The Silt events centre is a stunning new landmark on the beach in Middelkerke, Belgium, featuring exceptional views and delivering expansive visibility and comfort for visitors and guests. And, of course, this is where the facade glass plays a key role. AGC iplus 1.0 coated insulating glass was specified for the project, since it delivers excellent clarity, neutrality and transparency. A true win-win for everyone involved!
A casino first stood on this site way back in 1891. Today, the new casino is part of a larger complex that offers much more than just a chance to have a flutter. In addition to the casino and gaming room, there are restaurants, a foyer, an event room (capacity: 1,700) and a beachside hotel with an underground car park. Silt is the only building on the entire coast located right on the beach. “That's what makes the views so exceptional,” says Xavier Vercaemst of C-Hotels, the company operating the hotel. "Almost every room has a sea view and the beds are positioned so you can wake up looking straight at the water. It's truly unique."
An asset for the Belgian coast
Designed by architectural firm ZJA and landscape architects DELVA, in collaboration with OZ and Bureau Bouwtechniek, Silt reflects a deep love of and respect for the sea and dunes. This striking building combines liveability, sustainability and coastal resilience: in fact, the sea wall is now capable of withstanding a once-in-a-thousand-year storm' The design is not only clever, minimising the use of energy and materials during construction, but also sustainable, in that it leveraged more efficient production processes and made extensive use of recycled materials.
Project architect Leo ten Wolde of ZJA calls Silt a new 'living room' for Middelkerke: a venue for conferences, exhibitions and concerts, and a beach-front hotel that gives local tourism a real boost. "The above-ground part resembles a bollard, a mooring post where ships can tie off," Ten Wolde explains. "This visual landmark embodies the restrained power and austerity so typical of the Flemish coastal landscape. The shape is minimalist yet intriguing, inspired by the forms and colours of nature and the fishing harbour. By day and night, the hotel is an inviting visual beacon, a sculptural presence with soft, flowing contours."
Transparent
"The architecture merges seamlessly with the landscape,” says Ten Wolde. “It's contemporary, without being cheap or flashy. The event room, restaurant and casino are tucked away behind the dunes, yet they all enjoy spectacular views of the sea and feature transparent facades – which is where high-quality glass plays a key role." The designers specified AGC iplus 1.0 insulating glass for the project since it comes in a wide range of configurations, each tailored to specific requirements in terms of appearance and functionality – not just aesthetics and insulation, but also light transmission, sound insulation, reflection and wind load. Various compositions were used in the glass panels, such as 10(15)88.2 and 1212.2(15)#88.2, with a light transmission (LT) of 69 and a solar factor (g-value) of 46.
The facade contractor asked us if we wanted to not only produce the insulating glass, but also install it," says Franky Symoens, Managing Director of glassmaker Polypane. "It wasn't an easy job, but we were delighted to accept the challenge. The coastal wind loads not only required special, thicker compositions, but also meant we couldn't be on-site every day. The upper floors of the hotel form an inclined facade with large, heavy glass panels that we had to install from the inside. The special shape of the building meant that the glass had to follow and flow with the curved surface of the facade. On the ground floor we installed the glass panels from the outside, fixing them in place with a recessed seal. The coating is in position 3 to ensure the stripped edge would not be visible. It was a pleasure to make and install the glass for this wonderful project."
