The New Building of Beijing Planetarium is an iconic curved glass curtain wall project in China, co-designed by US-based Morphosis Architects and China Aerospace Architecture Design & Research Institute, with a total construction area of about 22,000 ㎡. Its facade features a highly fluid double-curved glass curtain wall, which perfectly echoes the planetarium’s “cosmic galaxy” design theme and has become a landmark in Beijing’s Xizhimen area.
1. Core Glass Technology Highlights
Double-curved Heat-bent Tempering Process: The project’s double-curved laminated insulating heat-bent tempered glass is a benchmark for ultra-complex special-shaped glass processing in China. Each piece of glass is custom-shaped, requiring CNC molds to precisely control heat-bending shrinkage and deformation, followed by vacuum negative pressure lamination to achieve the building’s smooth curved shape, with far higher processing difficulty than ordinary spherical glass.
Composite Structure Design: The outdoor double-curved curtain wall adopts a 6+1.52PVB+6+9A+8 insulating laminated structure, while indoor passages use heat-bent laminated glass, paired with Low-E insulating energy-saving glass. This delivers three core performance benefits: safety protection, thermal insulation and energy saving, and sound insulation and noise reduction. If broken, the glass is firmly bonded by PVB/SGP interlayers to prevent splashing, while effectively blocking solar radiant heat and reducing building energy consumption.
Large-format Processing Capacity: The maximum flat size of the project’s glass reaches 3000×1000mm, covering the entire north facade curtain wall, saddle-shaped glass passage, 4 space steel structure glass spirals and other scenarios, perfectly matching the building’s special-shaped design requirements.
2. Architectural & Application Value
The 153m-long, 30m-high saddle-shaped double-curved glass curtain wall on the north facade consists of more than 800 pieces of uniquely shaped glass. It not only solves the space connection between the new and old buildings, but also maximizes the thermoplasticity of glass and architectural aesthetics, becoming a classic case of special-shaped curtain walls in China.
The glass system is widely used in curtain walls, skylights, indoor passages, glass spirals and other full-building scenarios. It meets the planetarium’s lighting needs, realizes the artistic expression of the building through curved shapes, and ensures the safety, energy efficiency and durability of the building through lamination, insulation, Low-E and other processes.
As a Beijing Construction New Technology Application Demonstration Project, its double-curved glass processing and curtain wall installation technology has provided important technical references for subsequent domestic special-shaped building glass projects.
Supplementary Note
The project’s double-curved laminated insulating heat-bent tempered glass fully matches our company’s full-chain processing capacity of heat-bending, lamination, tempering and insulation. We can achieve customized production of heat-bent glass with a maximum size of 3000×11000mm and laminated glass with a maximum size of 3300×18000mm, supporting composite processes such as PVB/SGP interlayers and Low-E coating, and can undertake similar ultra-complex special-shaped building glass projects.