3SIXØ Architecture BLOG » Olga

Olga — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:45:52 +0000

On July 2009 Kolbe and Kolbe Window Manufactory invited our office to Wisconsin. They were not only so kind as to take us to their factory, but also schedule a number of interesting events for our brief visit. Among these were: a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, a visit to Aldo Leopold Foundation Headquarters (the first LEED-platinum certified building) and the Cardinal floating glass factory.

These pictures of the glass factory capture some moments along its assembly line: A mound of sand and cullets waiting to be fed to the furnace, its transformation to molding glass and its division into panels to name a few.

This assembly line has been running continuously for 12 years and for its optimized performance this continuity has not been broken. All the glass produced in this factory has been cut from a single stretched sheet of glass. One of the processes that particularly called my attention along this trajectory was the moment in which the glass is cut. The mechanisms of this machinery respond to the seemingly simple necessity of cutting straight edge panels from a moving ribbon.

After being transformed into molding glass, a long tongue of glass stretches out from the furnace. This hot taffy-like material is carried on a conveyor by rubber wheels. As this continuity is to be maintained, to achieve a right angle panel the blade is set at a particular angle to accommodate the speed at which the glass travels. In other words, to achieve a rectangular panel the blade cuts the moving glass at a diagonal.

Interesting facts from our guide: Glass is never in a true solid state. The inert medium in which the glass is suspended is liquid nitrogen. As mentioned before, the furnace has not been shut down in 12 years making its maintenance cumbersome as the molding glass is frozen in order to repair the damaged sections.

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Stone House Club: Spa and Restaurant

Olga — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:47:02 +0000

3six0 was commissioned to restore and renovate the much loved but well worn Stone House Inn in Little Compton, Rhode Island into an authentic destination hotel. The renovated project is comprised of 12 hotel units, two restaurants and a spa.
The original Stone House was constructed in 1854 as a private residence in an Italianate style but soon after was converted into an inn.
3six0’s challenge has been to balance the preservation of the historic Inn with the client’s modern needs. The team’s approach has been to integrate green building technologies wherever possible with the implementation of its restoration and its contemporary use.
The project is currently under construction. Here are some before and in-progress photos of the construction of the “Barn”: Spa and Restaurant …

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