Olivia Star Business Centre Gdansk, Poland

The Gdynia-based architecture firm, BJK Architekci, chose the Jansen VISS Façade system to create the mullion- transom structure, which is inclined twelve degrees inwards. Using the heavy-duty steel system meant that the glass panels were exactly double the width of the aluminium profiles of the office fa ades underneath. In other words, the VISS façade has reduced the number of mullions that disrupt the view to a minimum. As the building is located on the sea line (i.e. as if it were positioned on the open sea), wind pressure and suction forces of approximately 4000 Pascals were taken into account. This is why the fa ade constructor used stainless steel connectors from the VISS Fire steel profile system. There is no need to worry about the corrosive effect of sea salt, however, as the Baltic Sea is a brackish sea, i.e. a mixture of fresh water and seawater. As the salt water only feeds in from the North Sea via a narrow channel, the salinity of the Baltic Sea decreases the further east you go – in the Bay of Gdansk it is less than 0.8%. By way of comparison, the average salinity of the North Sea is around 3.5%. (AMR)