Grafted onto the 19th-century brick remains of Georgia’s Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Museum of Art is a 26-m (86-ft) tall, semi-transparent channel glass tower, the first application to use hurricane-rated channel glass in a horizontal, dual-glazed configuration without additional support.

Building and design teams can use channel glass systems to create visual statements. Some popular methods for heightening interest include altering the surface treatment, varying the channels’ orientation, and adding backlights.

U-shaped, linear cast-glass channels can provide design teams with a distinctive architectural feature while contributing to high-performance building design. This article presents considerations for design teams working to specify channel glass applications suitable for projects with multiple performance needs.