Commercial Architecture January 2018 - 38

PROJECT

windows
gain, making the room much more comfortable without having to
use air conditioning.
INTERIOR WALLS

Alexandria's sleek office has an open floor plan that features areas for
desks, a break room, several conference rooms, and a "living room"
area with a fireplace, couch, and armchairs. The smart-tinting glass
was installed in a conference room and the living room to allow natural light while providing the option to add privacy on demand. The
walls to the hallways now tint to create privacy or minimize distractions. Because the panels are individually controlled, they can be tinted all at once or in patterns, to create what some employees call a "soft
barrier," a subtle way to convey that the room is occupied.
"We are sensitive to confidentiality issues and understand that privacy is a critical issue for our tenants and prospective tenants," said
Yao. "Halio has become part of our office tour-to show prospective
tenants what their options are. The glass always gets oohs and aahs."
Because everyone craves natural light, Yao sees smart-tinting glass
as one of the many options for conference rooms to create privacy
walls. "There are many high-end glass manufacturers that are etching
glass to make beautiful patterns to create a sense of privacy. This is a
fixed solution. Ten years from now, you will look at it and say that's
outdated. Halio eliminates the need for film, art glass, shades, or
blinds-you can have privacy when you need it."
THE FUTURE

Out of the three installations at the real estate's San Francisco office-the
skylight, the main conference room, and the living room-the skylight
is, for Yao, the most significant.
"It is the exterior envelope application," he said. "Because of California's Title 24, we are getting pulled two ways: tenants want more
and more clear glass-not ones with a bronze, green, or blue tint. They
want perfectly clear glass. But with the energy codes getting more and
more stringent, it's getting very difficult to get a glassy building to be
compliant. With smart-tinting glass, clear glass and energy efficiency
are no longer mutually exclusive."
Smart-tinting glass aligns with the company's goals of sustainability and smart building systems. "As I see it, the glass and heat gain
Top. Fully tinted, the glass walls to the
hallways can create privacy or minimize
distractions.

Above. Each panel has its own controller,
so select panels can be tinted while others remain clear.

San Francisco. Trained as an architect, Yao said of the conventional

from the building envelope is just another variable in the build-

skylight that was installed while they waited for Halio delivery, "Ev-

ing-management system," said Yao. "Halio would help with the heat

eryone loves natural light until they realize they hate the glare. With

load from the sun. By installing it, we could eliminate motorized win-

the big skylight and no means of controlling the glare, it limited the

dow shades to reduce glare and solar gain."

use of the space."

"It's weird," Yao explained. "You pay a premium for a building that

The pre-Halio skylight was disruptive to vendor presentations and

has amazing views and what most people do is put down the blinds,

training that made use of audiovisual equipment. It also brought un-

and once down, they stay there." With programmable smart-tinting

wanted heat.

glass, that problem goes away. CA

"With the regular skylight, there was little control," said Yao. "Depending on the time of year and the angle of the sun, it could be really disruptive-and there's nothing you can do about it. You're just
stuck unless you start rearranging the room to work with the sun. But
that's not practical, because then you have to change the layout every
few weeks."
Then Halio was installed. "With our smart-tinting skylight, we can
take it down a notch to take the edge off, or go dark to make the space
suitable for video presentations," Yao said.
Halio delivers an unlimited number of tints between clear and
dark. The glass also blocks ultraviolet rays and reduces heat from solar
38

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

JANUARY 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Architecture January 2018