Product
LowE Plus with Clear for highest clarity and visible light transmittance – while also excellent Insulation performance (low U-Value).
Specification
- Outer: 6mm Clear Toughened
- Spacer: 12mm Warm Edge + Argon Gas
- Inner: 6mm LowE Plus Toughened
Site Address
Coburg, VIC 3058
Fabricator
Builder
Architect
Photos courtesy of
Challenge
This post-war Coburg home presented an interior layout typical of its time – constrained, disconnected, and far from encouraging a growing family’s aspirations. Archier architect Chris Gilbert articulated the dilemma: “The original house…wasn’t encouraging of our clients’ growing family. The kitchen faced south-east, cut off from natural light, and was disconnected from the rear courtyard.”
The key challenge was to break the insularity and create a seamless connection between the indoors and the landscape. Preservation of the home’s original narrative, while infusing modern functionality, added to the task.
Solution
Archier’s response was a comparatively small intervention that transformed how the clients lived in their home.
The introduction of a three metre-long sliding door, incorporating AGG Insulglass LowE Plus® Clear double glazing, reoriented the kitchen and dining spaces northwards. This facilitated maximum visible light and passive heat gain, optimal for Melbourne’s cooler winters. The frames also served as structural elements, allowing the roof to float over large expanses of glass, immersing the kitchen into the garden.
“We used SIPS, then an innovative and new product in Australia, in combination with BINQ fabrication of windows and doors using Australian-made LowE Plus insulated glazing units,” Gilbert noted.
The design cleverly incorporated Insulglass LowE Plus® in its architectural approach. This Insulated Glass Unit (IGU), with its high-performing, energy-efficient sputter coat low-emissivity glass (LowE), played a vital role in the renovation. The soft coat technology ensures maximum visibility without the risk of visible haze that traditional coatings might possess.
“Creating key connections between the inside and outside realms lies at the heart of the resulting works,” Gilbert elaborated. Insulglass played a significant role in this transformation, uniting the homeowners’ passions for gardening and cooking.
In line with its ethos of thoughtful interventions, Archier’s approach respected the home’s original red brick façade. The use of charred and natural timber in the glazed opening elements connected with the house’s brick frontage, creating a harmonious transition.
Archier’s Coburg project demonstrates the value of ingenious and highly considered smaller interventions. Leveraging the benefits of LowE Plus for its excellent insulation and unique aesthetic appeal, they created a home that is not only responsive to its occupants’ needs but also resonates with its surroundings.
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