The Dali Museum in Florida.

After a long design development period with the architect, Novum was contracted to engineer, furnish and install the impressive glazed free form structures, which have become the trademark of the new Dali Museum on Tampa Bay. To ensure the priceless art collection would be protected from hurricanes, Novum went through a rigorous process to obtain Miami-Dade Notice of Approval for the glazing system. Test mock-ups of the proposed system combination were constructed at a certified laboratory. Testing proved satisfactory for large and small missile impact, water infiltration and cyclical tests that mimicked intense hurrican conditions.

Structurally the free form system uses forged steel nodes are elecroplated and painted. Double node technology solves free form geometric issues of beam twist. Rectangular steel tubes are galvanised and powder coated.

An edge clamped glass (ECG) system holds fully tempered, laminated, insulating glass panels with a low-E coating in place. Below 30 ft elevation, a high performance ionoplast interlayer is used. Above 30 ft elevation, a PVB interplayer is used.

For more information on the museum read Building Magazine's feature online Building Magazine's feature online