Sectors
ETFE atrium roofs and office rooflights
Roofing a courtyard or atrium in an existing building usually runs into the same wall: the structure was never designed to carry a glass roof, and strengthening it costs more than the roof.
ETFE removes that constraint. A cushion or single-skin foil roof weighs so little that the supporting structure can be slim and the existing frame can often take it without strengthening. That is what makes previously dead courtyards, light wells and rooftops usable.
It also solves the daylight problem in deep-plan buildings. A translucent roof spreads light across the whole floor below rather than dropping a hot, glaring patch in the middle, which is what a glazed rooflight tends to do.
At Bevis Marks in the City, ETFE cladding created a sheltered rooftop walkway and pod on a working office building. At Kidderminster Town Hall, an ETFE barrel vault turned an unusable historic courtyard into a daylit civic room.
- Usable on existing frames
- Often no strengthening works required.
- Even daylight
- Diffuse light across the plan, not a glare spot.
- Curves and vaults
- Barrel vaults and freeform geometry without bespoke glass.
Projects in this sector
