Starphire ultra-clear glass by PPG Industries is being used in one of the country’s newest landmarks, the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The memorial, which was dedicated Oct. 5 with President Barack Obama and hundreds of veterans in attendance, features three walls of laminated, etched Starphire glass along with granite walls, bronze sculptures, a ceremonial flame and a reflecting pool.
Lead designer and landscape architect Michael Vergason of Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, Alexandria, Virginia, specified 48 oversized glass panels designed with 3/4-inch thick Starphire glass to provide a monumental artistic effect. Hartung Glass Industries, Seattle, cut, polished, tempered and laminated the glass; Moon Shadow Glass Inc., Sandy, Oregon, etched soldier photographs, quotations and stories into the panels; and Glass Strategies, Portland, Oregon, sand-sealed the panels.
Though the glass walls are meant to represent the fragility of the human spirit, the memorial’s panels are anything but fragile, the company says. With five layers of glass and four layers of lamination, each panel weighs 1,800 pounds and is strong enough to withstand hurricane-force winds.
Because of its proprietary low-iron formulation, Starphire glass is a product of choice for storefronts, aquariums, museums and other display glass applications. It also protects the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights permanently displayed in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C.
