Solarlux supplies tailor-made glazing for the VIP and press lounges in the new and ultra-modern New York Yankees baseball stadium.

Stadiums are the venues where spectacular and momentous events take place. At the centre of all this is the spectator, whether in the crowd or as an individual. One of the key questions that stadium planners have to address is how to achieve the best possible visibility for spectators. Of growing importance here is the develop-ment of the so-called luxury suites which are intended to be meeting places for VIPs. These must have close proximity to the heart of the game whilst at the same time providing the choice of being able to withdraw and be undisturbed. Well at-tended VIP lounges are of great importance for economic reasons and luxury lounges have a great deal of prestige. For example, a VIP lounge in the Yankee stadium in New York which was built in 1923 and which is appointed to a medium standard can cost, on average, $ 265,000 per baseball season or approximately $ 18,000 per game. Clients are provided with the exclusive luxury of a professionally appointed VIP lounge from where they can participate in the game or event as they please and structure their day as they wish. This is why glazing solutions which offer the best visibility and flexibility to meet any of these requirements are in de-mand. The development and application of flexible glazing concepts are therefore central in the delivery of such highly profitable aspects of contemporary stadium design. Tailor-made solutions of the highest quality are demanded in such locations.

As world market leader for glass folding façades, the German system developer and manufacturer Solarlux is a sought after partner for innovative glazing systems in stadiums. An important major project in which Solarlux has played an instrumen-tal role is the construction of the New Yankee Stadium in the Bronx district of New York. Since August 2006, the new home of the legendary New York Yankees, the Club of the Major League Baseball (MLB) par excellence, has been created in close proximity to the old stadium with an awards total of almost 486 million euros under the project management of Hochtief US subsidiary Turner Corporation. The open air arena, the conceptual design of which was carried out by the sports archi-tecture firm HOK Sports, Kansas, and which extends over 140,000 square metres, accommodating 53,000 seats with the playing surface covered with natural turf, will no doubt soon become the new symbol for the MLB once opened to the public during the 2009 season.

Although many features of the old arena will be retained to be reminiscent of the glorious tradition of the Club – features such as the impressive façade of the old stadium with its classical appearance and the famous frieze by the overhanging roof – the new stadium presently under construction will offer all the architectural and technical facilities of a post modern showcase arena. This includes 60 VIP suites, press lounges with a total of 1000 seats, and it is Solarlux who has de-signed and manufactured the tailor-made flexible façade openings and transparent glazing.

The luxury lounges which occupy a level on their own, situated between the upper and lower main stands, extend in the form of a continuous ring to the right and left from the “home plate“ with an excellent view of the central playing field where all the excitement of the game will take place. Solarlux specially developed the SL 25 XXL, an all-glass slide-and-turn system with 13.52 mm laminated safety glass and extremely slim horizontal aluminium profiles for the glazing of this lounge project.

Sixty two of these SL 25 XXL units in total were used within the exclusive lounge area with an average width of each unit of 3200 mm and a height of 1300 mm. Each SL 25 XXL unit sits on an approx. 600 mm high parapet from the Solarlux SL45 system. On the inside and on the level of the parapet there is a counter / bar with seating facilities. In addition, the side doors of the SL 45 system provide access to the seats outside.

The generous and variable Solarlux glazing systems give to the glass façades of the lounges a unique character with significant added value due to their high func-tionality and flexibility since each of the 340 panels of the suite level can be opened and easily moved to the side in order to experience the event live with close proximity to the heart of the game. For maximum transparency when closed, the horizontal frame elements of the SL 25 XXL are of a particularly slim design and yet meet the stringent requirements of the stadium with regard to resistance to flying objects. Regarding static structural loads, safe deflection up to 24 mm is possible.
The system profiles and door furniture which Solarlux uses have all been devel-oped and manufactured by Solarlux and have been issued with test certificates by renowned national and international institutes such as ift Rosenheim (D), Architec-tural Testing (USA), SHR (NL), etc.

In the new Yankee stadium, the press suites are created below the VIP lounges on their own level. Here too, Solarlux is implementing its solution-oriented engineering approach with a tailor-made answer. In order to ensure that the broadcasting booths, if needed, are sufficiently sound-proofed, 12 SL 50-HSW systems with an opening width of 3 to 5 metres are used. This horizontal sliding façade is also fitted with 13.52 mm laminated safety glass.
The all-glass slide-and-turn systems and the horizontal sliding façades from the Bissendorf innovators, are suitable for straight as well as curved segmented con-figurations as they are able to negotiate any angle from 90° to 180°. Individual panels can be folded away into niches, stacked behind columns or – as in New York – lined up parallel to the wall. High-spec roller assemblies ensure the smooth and easy operation of the glass units of all the systems – this is a factor not to be underestimated as the visitors who come to the lounges expect easy and flexible operation of the glass façades.

A variety of examples of glazed lounges and suites in renowned football, baseball, American football and multi-purpose stadiums in Europe and North America prove the competence of Solarlux, the manufacturer, and how sought after they are.  Projects such as the façade renovation of the Wembley Stadium in England (24 suites, sports architects firm HOK Sports Europe), the baseball stadium “Citizens Bank Park“ in the USA (98 suites, architects firm Ewing Cole / HOK Sports) and the US football stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles (196 suites, architects firm NBBJ) substantiate the wide spectrum which Solarlux covers with its product range. For areas threatened by hurricanes, specific concepts were developed and completely new systems created to meet the requirements stipulated by architects and specifiers. Solarlux´s leading market position is not only based on quality, design and innovative product details “made in Germany” but also on individual solutions and technical support for specifiers and architects. From the planning stage right through to realisation, Solarlux offers all services from one single source. With a network of subsidiaries, licensees and partners, competent local support is guaranteed and this is available on a worldwide basis.

  solarlux-yankee-stadion.doc (181 KiB, 615 hits)

Cross-section of the new Yankee stadium in New York currently under construction. The cross-section shows the luxury VIP lounges and the press area below the upper main stand. The flexible and highly transparent glazing systems are supplied by the German system developer and manufacturer Solarlux.	From the luxury lounges visitors will have the perfect view of the playing field of the new Yankee stadium. The flexible glazing was developed, manufactured and supplied by the system developer and manufacturer Solarlux.

Rendering of the new Yankee stadium in the Bronx district of New York. From April 2009 and an area of 140,000 square metres the 53,000 Yankee fans will be able to cheer their club. The 60 exclusive VIP lounges and the separate press area will be fitted with the individual, highly transparent and flexible system glazing supplied by the market leader Solarlux.

102 metres and 322 glass panels. At the Autzen stadium (USA) 33 VIP lounges and the entire press area were glazed with the SL50-HSW system from Solarlux. The system which width wise can be opened up completely meets the particularly stringent requirements regarding wind loads (1,400 Pascal).

Solarlux has further developed its all-glass slide-and-turn system SL 25 XXL especially for the glazing of the Yankee lounges. The detailed drawing shows the upper track with its height compensation profile and the 13.52 mm strong laminated safety glass.	Solarlux´s SL 25 XXL features extremely slim frames and 13.52 mm strong laminated safety glass as can be seen from the detail drawing of the lower track.

The highly transparent SL 25 all-glass slide-and-turn lounge glazing system of the Blackburn Rovers stadium in Lancashire, UK, was supplied by the German manufacturer Solarlux.