As a partner in the Belgian participation at the Universal Exhibition in Milan, AGC Glass Europe is supplying high-performance glass for the Belgian pavillion with improved thermal insulation, solar protection and energy generation, not to mention decoration, security and hygiene. As well as marking the Belgian identity of the pavilion, the AGC glass embodies the themes of environmental sustainability and technological innovation that underlie its design.
Glass for energy control
In response to the general theme of the Expo, namely food , the first part of the pavilion symbolically represents the very elongated shape of the traditional Belgian farm. The cladding consists of coated glass (Stopray Smart) which provides not only solar protection but also higher thermal insulation. The roof is covered with BIPV laminated photovoltaic glass which filters the light while supplying electricity for the pavilion. This glass incorporates either crystalline photovoltaic cells (SunEwat XL glazing) or an organic film which produces electricity. The latter product, currently under development, is a joint project by AGC Glass Europe and Heliatek.
Glass for decoration and health
Inside the farm, the path of the future with its moving light display plunges us into an underground space which opens onto the food supply of tomorrow. Visitors go back up via a majestic staircase flooded with overhead light. The staircase is bordered by a balustrade of extra-clear laminated glass (Planibel Clearvision) offering excellent light transmission and colour rendering. The same laminated extra-clear glass is used for the steps, but with an opaque white film. The visitor then enters the second part of the pavilion, symbolising the urban layout of the future on a reduced scale, made up of a city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods separated by green re-entrants that act as the lungs of the city. At last the visitor arrives at the centre of this city, filled with Belgian flavours, with an atrium roofed by a geodesic dome covered in equal amounts by SunEwat XL and Stopray Smart glass. The latter type of glass is also used for the roofs and facades of the small wooden pavilions representing the neighbourhoods. Finally, the atrium has an open space for culinary experiences with anti-bacterial partitions in clear Planibel AB glass or white Lacobel AB painted glass capable of eliminating 99.9% of all bacteria on the glass surface. In this way AGC Glass Europe demonstrates that its range of advanced glass solutions lies at the heart of a sustainable, innovative architectural solution.