Mission Possible: Partnering to Bring Daring Architecture to Life

Whistler, British Columbia, under the twin shadows of Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, is where you’ll find Blackcomb Façade Technology busy creating extraordinary façade systems (including curtain walls, skylights, windows and entry systems) that turn the once impossible into the now possible. Given that the Blackcomb Glacier is one of the most celebrated runs on Blackcomb Mountain, it seems inevitable that Blackcomb Façade Technology and Glacier Window and Door of Seattle, WA, should combine strengths to provide innovative fenestration and facade solutions for high-end houses together. From the start, it looks to be a great run.

Blackcomb Façade Technology…

A team of engineers, designers, and construction pros self-described as “construction nerds,” Blackcomb sees themselves as the architect’s partner – their job is to help make architects and builders shine. They live and breathe design details, love the challenges of sophisticated architectural visions, and provide the best value when they join the team early in the design-assist stage. Yes, they do design and construct innovative, often daring fenestration for mainly residential buildings, but that’s a bit like saying that a gourmet chef cooks good food.

Blackcomb designs and engineers extraordinary façade solutions that integrate completely into the aesthetics and structural integrity of the building, using the most innovative technology and techniques available. The result is spectacular, architecturally driven curtain walls with minimal obstructions that are both aesthetically pleasing and integral to the structure of the building, becoming part of the water management, wind and lateral loading and seismic integrity. Blackcomb performs this feat with both residential buildings plus unique and challenging smaller commercial projects. 

In short, they take architects’ dreams and make them real. And they have fun doing it. Blackcomb’s motto? Fun work with fun people.

 …Meet Glacier Window and Door

Glacier Window and Door is an architectural design-driven supplier and installer of high-quality, state-of-the-art fenestration systems for luxury homes. Like Blackcomb, the Glacier team integrates early on with architects and builders to ensure that the entry systems and all doors and windows meet the owners’ and architects’ aesthetic goals as well as the structural needs of the building. Just as fenestration is integral to the building, the Glacier team is integral to the smooth, timely completion of complex design-build projects. 

The Glacier team has a deceptively simple goal that’s easy to say, difficult to do. They shepherd through complex window and door selection, customization, and installation projects from start to completion in sync with other construction efforts and on budget. And they make that experience pleasant for the owner, architect and builder. 

Glacier works with the finest manufacturers of windows; wood clad, aluminum, and steel windows, as well as top of the line door and entry system manufacturers. As architects migrated giant window walls – also known as façade systems – from the commercial to the residential world, Glacier has worked with several manufacturers, including Loewen, Brombal, and Fleetwood. Now they are teaming up with Blackcomb, the premier fabricator in the Pacific Northwest of custom façade systems.

And Raico Makes Three

Blackcomb Façade Technology and Glacier Window and Door make an ideal fabrication/installation team. But it takes one more partner to make the magic work. RAICO Bautechnik GmbH is the world leader in the design of extrusions, profiles, pressure plates and gaskets in the world – all the hardware that makes stunning façades and curtain walls possible. Working in the commercial building realm they are the acknowledged specialist for sophisticated building envelopes – just as Blackcomb is the North American specialist for residential façade systems. 

Blackcomb partners with Raico exclusively, believing that their high performance, highly insulated facade system technology is a generation ahead of North America. While Raico is generally associated with commercial buildings, their partnership with Blackcomb makes the same customizable scope of curtain walls available for high end residential buildings.

All three companies are experts in working with design build teams to provide highly detailed, bespoke façade solutions, making the triumvirate the perfect synthesis of skills to service architects and builders who are working at the cutting edge of architecture. 

What You Don’t See Is What You Get

The breathtaking effect of large façade curtain walls is created by the immediacy of the connection between the interior and exterior of the building. Viewed from the street, expansive glass facades are dazzling, with an air of the impossible about them. The person inside the building feels as though they are directly connected with the outside world – while they remain warm, or cool, and sheltered. In short, it’s the view – transparency – that creates the wow. 

Blackcomb is dedicated to creating exquisitely engineered facade systems with minimal site lines. Traditionally, when many windows were combined, the vulnerable junctures were protected against wind and moisture by widening the mullions; while strength and shielding were increased, aesthetics – and the view – suffered. In Blackcomb’s façade systems mullion dimensions grow deeper as size and exposure requirements increase, not wider. Their two-inch wide mullions provide aesthetically pleasing divides while achieving the requisite protective and structural attributes.

Actively Involved in Passive House Design

Combining expansive glass walls with the super energy efficiency of modern buildings – including passive house standards – is a balancing act solved by technology and engineering. 

RAICO was the first German façade system house to have their curtainwall system certified by the Passive House Institute (PHI) in 1999. Blackcomb shares their dedication, taking advantage of Raico’s suite of PHI certified systems, which enables Blackcomb to create highly efficient designs for complex projects, including triple-glazed curtainwalls, skylights, and window & door elements. The technology of Raico married to the fabrications skills of Blackcomb and the installation expertise of Glacier Window and Door allow architects to incorporate glass curtain walls into their designs while maintaining energy efficiency.

Turning Impossible Into Possible

Blackcomb’s goal is to achieve anything the architect can draw. Confronted with a demanding, unprecedented design the Blackcomb engineers are likely to look over the plans and say, “It seems feasible – let’s see how we can do it.” The definition of impossible is something that can’t be done within the limits of the one attempting to do it. Blackcomb is constantly pushing those limits back; they thrive on projects that other fabricators deem impossible, constantly challenging their team to devise solutions to bring audacious designs to life. This is another reason why Blackcomb works best as an architectural partner, offering technical advice and suggesting achievable means early on in the design assist stage. 

So is there a limit to what can be achieved? Yes, the largest size of a single pane of glass that can currently be manufactured.

Right now, the upper limit is around 3.5 X 20 meters, or 11.5 X 65 feet. 

Collaboration Is the Key

Blackcomb Facade Technology’s team of engineers, designers, construction experts and focused thinkers view each project as a challenge to solve engineering problems specific to each job’s unique circumstances, including client preferences, architectural specs, and geographic environment.

The team of installers at Glacier Window brings a similar attitude and dedication to each project. To them, highly complex projects are a matter of interlocking details that need to be broken down, examined and solved in concert with the architect and builders in order to ensure a smooth construction process. 

The technological excellence of Raico. The fabrication brilliance of Blackcomb. The installation expertise of Glacier Window and Door. All are needed to achieve the once impossible. Perhaps the most important element each team brings, however, is their collaborative nature, the 

enthusiasm they share for being a part of the greater team committed to achieving a highly successful project – and spectacular architecture.