Optical bricks for a Fred & Fred designed light wall
The “Light designers” Fred & Fred relied on Holophane’s expertise to develop a unique concept to support an confident interior design: the creation of glass bricks including optical effects.
Meeting with Frédéric Gervais, President of this French design powerhouse:
“We were looking for a way to work with light to integrate it into a construction material. The idea was to create a glass wall with optical effects. A partnership with Holophane was obvious from the start. Their excellent understanding of glass and optics has allowed us to create a optical tile which is a real benchmark product in our industry”
The optical brick designed by Fred & Fred was able to see the light of day thanks to the Holophane glassmaking technique and its commitment along with the designers.
“Our 22 x 22 cm brick includes 16 optics. It was a real industrial challenge for Holophane and for us. We had to produce parts with extreme precision and very thick glass”.
There are various ways that these optical tiles can be used and it offers new opportunities for creativity as demonstrated by its use on the EURALILLE 2015 project.
“It was used in three pieces: a 20m high chandelier, a totem and floor tiles. The function is not just aesthetic. Our role is now to “design” the tailored light in order to create traffic in shopping centres and to offer a light texture which creates an identity for the site. Holophane is supporting us with this approach”.
Fred & Fred
www.fred-fred.com
Glass slabs for architectural roofing
Holophane has worked on a transparent glass roofing project for a public building. This roof uses hollow glass slabs with hexagonal facets. The added value offered by Holophane was two-fold:
- the quality of the tempered glass to meet safety requirements,
- optical improvement to obtain a sparkling transparent effect.
To do this Holophane uses its optical skills and simulation resources to correct the light path whilst maintaining industrial feasibility.
