Luxembourg and Guardian Glass – on show at Expo 2020

With the theme ‘Connecting minds, creating the future’ the Expo is focussed on improving the environment and creating opportunity and mobility around the world. 191 countries will be showcasing their products and services, each from their own unique pavilion – and for the Luxembourg pavilion an expert team was carefully put together.

“The Luxembourg pavilion... is an infinite form, like the circular economy, and also represents openness and dynamism”. GG Kircher, Partner at Metaform,

With a strong presence in both Luxembourg and the Middle East, Guardian Glass not only brought glass innovation but also helped build a partnership to deliver the project. A partnership that also included highly respected Luxembourg architects Metaform, the Luxembourg government and expert glass cladding company Next Level.

“The Luxembourg pavilion is based on the idea of the Möbius strip”, explains GG Kircher, Partner at Metaform “This is an infinite form, like the circular economy, and also represents openness and dynamism”.

“If we could find a way of reducing distortions it would be an obvious improvement in glass innovation and design” Sayed Kamel, Managing Director, Next Level Group

As well as helping to set the tempo of the project, Guardian took the opportunity to demonstrate what can be possible with glass – not just once but twice. For the exterior, SunGuard® SuperNeutral™ (SN) 60 glass was chosen because of its world-class selectivity. With high natural light transmission and advanced solar control, the glass is ideally suited to the region’s often extreme sun exposure. Helping to create a comfortable environment for visitors and pavilion employees, while at the same time helping to reduce air conditioning needs.

“We were determined to show what’s possible if you focus wholly on quality, including how the glass is tempered”, Jasmin Hodzic, Director of Marketing and Product Management at Guardian Glass

This didn’t stop the team from further exploring what’s possible, however. As Sayed Kamel, Managing Director at Next Level Cladding reveals “Because of the temperatures and the high levels of sunlight compared to interior light, most glass in the region is highly reflective. This means even small distortions are visible in exterior reflections. If we could find a way of reducing these distortions it would be a clear advancement”.

To achieve this, careful tempering was used that slowly reduced the temperature until just above the limit of ‘glass breakage’, then slightly raised it again. This finely calibrated procedure removed nearly all the distortion from the glass.

“We were determined to show what’s possible if you focus wholly on quality, including how the glass is tempered”, explains Jasmin Hodzic. The difference is most obvious when linear objects are reflected and the lines are almost perfectly straight. And according to Sayed Kamel “it’s one of the best quality tempered glass products we’ve ever produced.”

“If this advancement can enhance people’s homes while helping improve energy efficiency we’ll be delighted”, Jasmin Hodzic

When you consider the performance advantages of SunGuard SN60, this advancement could be especially attractive for high-end, low-level residential properties in the region. “This is a growth sector” continues Jasmin Hodzic “and if this advancement can enhance people’s homes while helping improve energy efficiency we’ll be delighted”.

Not content with pushing the boundaries on the exterior however, Guardian also worked with Metaform on the pavilion’s Michelin-starred Schengen Lounge restaurant. Here Guardian Clarity™ glass is used to reduce reflections from the 8% of standard clear float glass to under 1%, and so create an almost invisible window between the diners and the kitchen. “We were able to truly connect visitors to what the chefs are doing in the kitchen – often they don’t even realise the Guardian Clarity glass is there” Jasmin Hodzic explains.

This demonstrates the importance of the pavilion in connecting more people and more businesses with the unique benefits of Luxembourg, while also highlighting how we can work towards responsible resource management. As a key partner and facilitator of the project, Guardian Glass are proud of how they helped connect and form the team that understood and then solved the challenges it presented – who could make it possible.

Guardian Glass products used

• Guardian SunGuard SN 60T high performance glass
• Guardian Clarity anti-reflective glass

Design and supply team

• Metaform Architects
• Next Level Group (cladding)