16
VISION 33—THE ROSSETTI STONE
And your feature window makes quite the statement?
Yes, it does, and obviously being structural as well, it means
that it has to have a logic to it to hold the roof up as well.
Everything is relying on it. It’s that the house is not a one-act
event, but it is a pretty big act, the one that’s in there.
You must have caused your glazier and builder
sleepless nights.
No, it was my wife and myself. The glazier was fantastic.
The structural engineer was great as was the steelworker
who got that complex frame pretty much in one. He snuck
in at 4am in the morning on the freeway with the frame in
two parts on the back of the truck. CAD helps hugely, but
the reality of the CAD drawings compared to the structural
steel frame is that it’s just taped with templates in place.
The glazier did a first round of templates and individual
templates for everything on the ground.
Do you feel glass has kept pace with other building materials?
Definitely. It’s leading the way with technology that isn’t
always highly visible. This framing system had glass taped
to the front for precise fit and then adjusted; it was just
fantastic. It's the classic glazing system but it still works
like a champion.
PROJECT
Hawthorn House, Melbourne
ARCHITECT
Craig Rossetti
ENGINEER
Keith Patrick
BUILDER
Finley Constructions
WINDOW INSTALLER/GLAZIER
Green Haus – Andreas Kiel
GLASS SUPPLIER AND SPECIALIST SUPPORT
Viridian
PRINCIPAL GLAZING
Viridian SuperClear™
SIZE
30 sq.
BUDGET
$900,000 (inc. pool)