Printed Glass Facade: ALS Geochemistry, Perth

SuperGrey is a low-reflective body-tinted glass providing a dramatic, deep cool grey appearance, with subtle deeper tones of blue in bright daylight. SuperGrey increases visual privacy and dramatically reduces read-through from interior shading devices. In thermal performance, SuperGrey has incredibly high radiant heat absorption, offering an SHGC of 0.35 - the highest solar performance of all uncoated float glass.

Despite a light transmittance of 9% providing high glare control, from the interior natural views can be maintained due to the low-exterior reflectance. These performance values combined with the façade orientation allows the project to meet Section J requirements with the use of a single glazed facade.

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For architects and artists working with decorative finishes such as ImagInk, SuperGrey provides a glass canvas that greatly accentuates the contrast of the ink colours against the dark grey tint of the glass.

This is made possible due to the direct-to-glass printing process ImagInk employs, whereby ceramic inks are printed directly to the surface. Once toughened, the inks are fused into the glass creating a scratch and UV resistant surface that allows installation with the printed surface exposed on the exterior of the façade. The contrast between colours is most apparent with lighter colours, however nearly all bright colours will benefit from enhanced contrast.

The team at Bateman have previously used SuperGrey to achieve the same effect for the Sarich Neuroscience Facility, an 800sqm facade utilising a dynamic single colour white print.

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Multi-disciplinary artist Nien Schwarz draws on prior experience as a geological assistant as influence into her visual arts practice. This influence has inspired a growing body of works since the 90's, encompassing geoscience themes and references to geological time, drill core and tailings, lab residues, logging and imaging data.

'Motherlode is the title of my site-specific Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) design, spanning the glass façade of the new ALS building in an area of work that is almost 74m²printed across 42 panels of glass. It’s a geologically themed design inspired largely by ALS's global geochemical analyses services and the fact that the human world relies heavily on mining metallic ores. This Western Australian Percent for Art project initiative was a great opportunity to work with resources provided to the public by the Geological Survey of Western Australia.'

'To familiarise myself with metallic ore bodies I researched many forms of mineral cross sections and veins, and consulted closely with the architect and client to ensure my final design would resonate with the building’s contextual factors, particularly the SuperGrey glass and the overall dimensions of the glass facade. I felt the scale and shape of the design should push against the architectural boundaries of the building, suggesting the copper ore body continued into the ground of the car park and beyond towards the landscape horizon. Chalcopyrite and alteration minerals, such as malachite & azurite, are suggested by blue and green zones, while hints of orange in the glass link back to native copper and the copper coloured cladding of the building.'

'The project was an amazing opportunity to convert a geo-themed idea into a scaled up drawing which was then printed to create a visually complex and conceptually stimulating site-specific architectural feature and landmark.'