Project Stella Maris

stella_marisAs you approach the main entry of this church you are greeted with a stunning image printed on glass of “Madonna and Child” by Giovan Battista Salvi, “Il Sassoferrato”.

Madonna and Child

ColourLite Image digital ceramic glass printing by G.James offered the architect a cost effective and long term durable solution, creating a signature dimension.

“The image of the Madonna and Child is all embracing as we enter the front door of Stella Maris Catholic Church.  This age old image draws us like the Child to His mother. The curtain walls bring light and shade to the sanitary.  The two columns of glass are a symbol of water.  Water is symbolic of our Christian faith.”
– Sonya Slater, Stella Maris Catholic Church

©SBPhoto_Stella Maris Church _025“The original concept was achieved and that was the building was to be a building within the park and the park within the building. We were able to produce large pieces of glass which had high resolution that has longevity and is easy to maintain.”
– Lee & Sandra Dunne, Architect

“G.James assisted greatly at the design stage of this project. This made the process of ordering and supply of the products so much easier, with our client being thrilled with the final product.”
– Dave Stewart, NGA

Location Broadbeach, Gold Coast, QLD
Glass GJ ColourLite Image 13.52 mm

Heat Strengthened Laminate

GJ ColourLite Graphic 13.52 mm

Heat Strengthened Laminate

Architect Patrick McGuinness and Lee Dunne, Architects. Sandra Dunne, Interior Designer
Builder Stokes Wheeler
Glazier NGA
Photographer Scott Burrows

Next Generation ColourLite Technology

Cardboard CathedralG.James Glass & Aluminium has recently enhanced its ColourLite ceramic printed glass range and capability with investment in the next generation ceramic on-glass printing technology. This process is renowned internationally as one of the world’s leading digital on-glass printing systems.

Australian architects and designers now have access to a new world of high-definition, full colour glass printing capabilities, including photo-realistic images that will redefine the role of printed glass as a design showpiece for façades, feature walls, interior fit outs, signage and other architectural highlights.

On-glass digital ceramic printing differs from other printed glass technologies in its vivid richness, hardiness and imaging flexibility. The digital ceramic inks are made from microscopic glass particles and inorganic pigments that are fused to the surface of glass through the glass furnacing process. The result is an extremely durable product that is highly resistant to fading. ColourLite ceramic printed glass is a truly robust imaging system with the capacity to handle the most expressive, forceful design ideas.

Lewis Saragossi, Managing Director and Chairman of G.James, says as a local manufacturer, he and his team are delighted to introduce new ColourLite capabilities to Australian architects and designers.

“We are very excited to add this new technology to our extensive product line and offerings,” he says. “We have spent a great deal of time evaluating the various technology options to find the one that would best match the needs and demands of the Australian market as well as current and future design trends. Our customers are impressed with the short lead time, available from our three local manufacturing facilities in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.”

ColourLite Examples

This new imaging software allows designers to accurately portray single images over multiple glass panels, and there is flexibility to present different designs. For example, the printing system allows for a continuous design to cover the full extent of a building façade for maximum impact. This includes the possible use of full perforated imaging to the vision panels. The unique digital system caters for either individual or multiple panel printing without the excessive cost and limitations of a silk screen.

 

Whats New?

  • High definition 720dpi printing
  • Glass thickness from 4mm to 19mm
  • Automatic inline pre mix colour range
  • Sizes from 300 x200mm to 4000 x 2300mm

1. Cardboard Cathedral Christchurch New Zealand Image supplied by Dip-Tech Photography by Bridgit Anderson 2. Fletcher Hotel Amsterdam, Holland Image supplied by Dip-Tech 3. G.James Glass & Aluminium Cairns, Australia Photography by Mark McCormack

Soul Apartments, Surfers Paradise

Soul tower, Surfers Paradise - Balustrades, sliding doors and fixed windowsSoul Apartments were constructed at an exclusive location by the water at the heart of Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. The tower reaches 77 storeys, including 2 levels of commercial premises at the base, one level of leisure facilities for the resident population and the tower above devoted to lifestyle apartments.

The 243m high building was designed by DBI Design PL and built by Grocon, under the direction of the Juniper Group.  The tower is situated at the end of Cavill Avenue – the popular shopping strip at Surfers Paradise. G.James Glass & Aluminium won the contract to supply the design, fabrication and installation of the glazing – including windows, doors, louvres, curtain wall, sun blades and balustrades.

The Residential Tower Facade

The residential tower consists of 288 apartments with a variety of glazing types – a curtain wall face, balconies with sliding doors and windows. The sheer curtain wall façade was produced using the 650 Series glazing system, and fitted between the concrete support columns. Sky blue laminated glass contrasts well with the white columns in the marine setting.  The majority of the project’s extrusions were powder coated (finished) in Eternity Steel – a dark finish that blended into the shadow lines.

The balcony glazing utilizes the 445 Series sliding doors, 450 Series fixed windows and 415 Series louvres. The balustrading for the tower was done with 571 Series. At the top of the building, the shape of the balustrade glass was raked from level 60 and above to support the curved aspect. The raked balustrades required special layouts and bracketry specific to the level they are installed on to make the curve regular.

The tower colour scheme contrasts vivid blue sections with predominantly white areas.  The blue areas were created using sky blue glass, the same as the sheer wall. The white areas use a Cool Grey glass. The Balustrades match the colour coding of the area they fall in, and intensify the look with a reflective coating.

Sun blades are installed on the upper portion of the tower.  The south face at the sub penthouse level has large angular alpolic blades fitted to the Juliet balconies, creating a visual feature and angled to block harsh glare.

Commercial Levels

On the lower commercial levels, 3 floors high, G.James supplied the ceramic printed toughened glass (installed by others) and balustrading. The ceramic printed toughened glass for the awnings has a creeping fern pattern.  The 571 Series balustrades for the first 3 floors were internal and external, and include the the shopping plaza. 

QuickAlly Access

QuickAlly Access Solutions (a G.James business) supplied scaffolding to replace damaged balustrade, recently.  The affected glazing occured on level 6 and level 75.  Both balustrade glazing occur on balconies with limited space to provide a cantilever, so solutions were suggested and engineered to find the best approach. Ladder beams and other Systems Scaffold products were used for a suspended platform to provide safe access to the high risk heights.

The Effect

The glazing on this project makes a stunning impression from inside and out, and could not be accomplished without a high level of design and coordination. It was a great opportunity to contribute to an iconic building.

Interactive Map: Building Brisbane

Brisbane construction projects by G.James Glass & Aluminium

Brisbane, being the location of our Head Office, sees many fine examples of G.James workmanship.   Here, we outline some of the biggest and best projects undertaken to showcase our capabilities in recent times.

The interactive map is designed so you can take a tour of some of our most recent and notable works.  Either at your desk looking out a CBD window, taking a stroll around town, and driving past a building or through an area you have always wanted to know more about.

Brisbane

G.James has contributed widely to what Brisbane looks like today.   There are buildings that have added to Brisbane’s sky line and to the diversity of looks and uses that are designed for the various parts of this fair city.  On some buildings, there are unique features that make them distinctive.  For example –

  • the ribbons of M&A,
  • the splash of red across the Australian Federal Police building,
  • the glass wall of Sir Samuel Griffith Centre,
  • the towering Aurora and Riparian plaza.

There are many buildings that have achieved the coveted green star energy efficient design,  some interesting artwork on glass designed by local artists – its worth a visit to the Anthropology Museum at UQ to see the ceramic printed window alone. Some of the buildings have specialised glass systems to suit the works being done, like the Translational Research Institute and the ABC headquarters.

There are projects that have altered the face of a tired old façade, so if you look at an old image of QIMR, you won’t recognize it.  And then theres the Suncorp Stadium which gives you a glimpse inside a place where state pride and competition is on the line.

The Interactive Map

The map is aimed to give you a glimpse into the depth the G.James knowledge base and provide an overview of the types of works that G.James is capable of.  It highlights projects done by various departments in the company, including:

  • Commercial departments
  • Residential departments
  • Gossi park and street furniture
  • Glass department

You can have a look at the map and plan out a scenic drive, or target specific jobs, or just get an idea of what we have produced, in your area.  As you can imagine, there are too many jobs to make this an all-inclusive list, but we aimed to include a range of jobs reflecting different styles and features.

A brief dossier on the project is included – a photo of what to look for, basic job data and links to further information on the project.  G.James can help you with any further information required for the jobs represented.

Explore Here…

Enjoy the exploration, and keep an eye on this space. Other areas will be released as our database of projects rolls out – Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, as well as other areas to be where you can find G.James fingerprints…

Until then, enjoy this insight into the River City.

Key:

 G.James Projects

 Gossi Designs

A printed curtain for the Infiniti Showroom

Nissan's Infiniti Showroom

Nissan’s brand new Inifiniti Showroom at 5 James St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, offers a new option of luxury car, provided at the level of traditional European car manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz.  The concept is to mimick the service offered to this level of customer but aiming at a new audience.

To accomplish this, Infiniti’s IREDI (Infiniti Retail Environment Design Initiative) developed a world class facility that will catch the eye of a newly emerging, discerning audience. Utilising Japanese notion of “Omotenashi”, or the heart of hospitality, a high level customer experience was developed from presentation to purchase.  The Brisbane showroom is the largest in Australia to date – the 2000m² complex comprises of a lobby, a lounge and the showroom, framed stylishly in printed glass showroom window.

Designed by the architectural firm, Brisbane based McKerral Architects , the curtain pattern was supplied as part of the global Infiniti corporate image. The original pattern needed to be refined and approved internationally prior to manufacture.  G.James worked in conjunction with the design team to finalise the artwork.

The printed glass produces a privacy shadow screen by day, but at night with lights behind it, the printing disappears. The print work and positioning lend itself to the overall highly polished finish presented to prospective clients.

Our Bundaberg office gets a new façade

Our Bundaberg office has been transformed with the use of our latest colour printing on glass technology. Over the last few months we have covered the topic of digital ceramic glass printing several times on this website. Our Bundaberg office located at  49/51 Enterprise Street, Bundaberg was due for a refurbishment, so G.James decided to put our printing capabilities to use creating a vibrant new façade for the building.

The Bundaberg Branch

The Bundaberg Branch was established in 1972 and is where former branch manager Geoff Thorne started his career with G.James. When Geoff retired in August 2012 he reflected on his time at G.James saying “When I started at G.James, this building was the best looking building in the street. Now that I am retiring, the building is again the best looking in the street”.

The Branch is now managed by Robert Astill and continues to service Bundaberg, Wide Bay & southern sector of central QLD.

The transformation

G.James Bundaberg Branch (Before)

The old office building was in need of refurbishment after many years of use. The new sales office and showroom features a fully glazed façade with glass spandrels ceramic printed with a full colour representation of the lush sugar cane that is common in the Bundaberg region. The façade fits with the character of the area, and puts a striking face on our sales office. Sunshades were also installed above the vision glass around the building, to help keep the north facing building cool.

The process

The first step was to find a suitable image for the building. The Bundaberg staff were involved in selecting an image they would be happy to have on their office building. It was important to include the staff in the decision to make sure we created a building they were happy to tell friends and family about, as well as work in.

We selected the sugar cane image below, to be placed on a blue background.

Sugarcane Image

Source image: 68cm wide X 50cm high @ 300dpi (8024px X 5940px @ 300dpi) at full size

The next step was to modify the image to maximise the printed effect over multiple floors. We created a concept render to ensure the image wouldn’t appear too busy or overbearing.

Bundaberg Building Concept Render

47 panels of artwork in total, 15 of those were corner panels

After the concept was complete, the G.James team scaled the image file to suit the CAD drawing of the Façade. This resulted in a very large image file requiring a couple of powerful PCs to do the processing work.

Bundaberg Building CAD Drawing

Bundaberg Building CAD Drawing – The front of the facade is 16.48m x 6.40m, the sides are 5.11m x 6.40m

Image and CAD drawing combined

Image and CAD drawing combined.

Each panel that required printing was then identified. The vision glass panels were excluded and we printed on a total of 47 spandrel glass panels.

Talk of the town

The façade has already attracted significant attention from those passing by, and has transformed our sales office into an exciting and unique advertisement for our business.

Keep your eyes peeled for another exciting transformation in the new year – G.James Cairns.

Who to contact

To find out more, please visit our glass printing gallery, or contact G.James Glass Sales on  (07) 3877 2866. Our Bundaberg office can be reached on (07) 4155 4888.

Project Update: M&A

McLachlin & Ann
If you live in Brisbane and travel through Fortitude Valley you may have noticed the ongoing development on the Corner of Ann St & James St. Formerly home to a car dealership, Laing O’Rourke are developing three buildings on the site. The 13 storey commercial building featured in this article – designed by Rice Daubney Architects, as well as a mixed-use building and a residential tower.  The commercial building fronts on to Ann st, and G.James are currently working to install the building’s façade.

About the Façade

The coloured & grey panels on the lower levels of the building are glazed with ceramic painted glass. Above this the curtain wall features large IGU panels, and a unique “ribbon” sunshade solution designed by Rice Daubney & fabricated by G.James. G.James is also glazing the shopfronts for the ground floor retail space.

The sunshading is fabricated from perforated aluminium sheet, and supported on extruded aluminium framing which includes true curved extrusions. The horizontal to verical twists ribbon are curved in two axis.  The custom designed framing system incorporates G.James bespoke sunshade fixing detail which allows for support of the sunshades directly off the curtain wall panels.  All attachments of the sunshades to the facade occur outside the external rain-screen line, without any penetrations through the curtain wall panels – mitigating any potential water leaks to the façade.  G.James’ sunshade fixing detail enables easy removal & re-installation of the sunshading devices in the event of glass replacement.  The sunshade fixing detail’s rigid connection to the facade resists the imparted wind loads, and minimal diagonal bracing provides redundant support in the event of a maintenance abseiler standing on the sunshade.

The design of the building features a blade-wall on the tower – originally to be constructed from pre-cast concrete. Design and construction issues however meant that a non-traditional approach was more optimal – G.James developed an engineered solution for the feature blade wall in lightweight composite-aluminium clad panels that cantilever outside the facade by a projection of approximately two and a half metres, and continues up the full height of the tower.

Behind the Scenes

G.James have been working intensively with the Architect, Rice Daubney, to try to turn their vision into reality well before we began work on site. Since September 2011 there have been multiple, full-scale, visual mock-ups prepared by G.James on this project, working closely with the Architects to ensure the fine detailing is achieved.

Check Back for Updates

G.James is continuing to work on the façade, completion of the project is expected to be in early 2013. G.James is also working on the two other buildings in the development – the mixed use building & residential tower, so check back for more updates as the development progresses.

Find out More

For more information on our commercial project capabilities, contact our commercial contracting division. Our monumental projects and louvre and sunshade photo galleries may also be of interest.