3 Wells Fargo, Charlotte, NC

Early in the planning process for their new headquarters in Charlotte, the CEO of Three First Union (predecessor to Wachovia Bank) asked Tom Ventulett of TVS Design if he could provide a glistening crown to the top of the building to serve as the 'Queen’s Crown', since Charlotte is referred to as the Queen City. From this request, Ventulett contacted von Roenn and presented him with the challenge of designing a glass crown to the planned skyscraper. Collaborating with the design team at TVS, von Roenn developed the concept for 52 glass fins that rise 50’ above the top of the building and 35’ down the side of the building.

 

The work was created with tempered laminated glass with both holographic diffraction grating film and dichroic glass both of which transform the light into a wide array of colors throughout the day and creating a kaleidoscopic effect at night with lights. These glass panels are secured with 1’ diameter cables and stainless steel perimeter frames, all of which were connected to upturned beams in the roof of the building. The resulting work was designed by the engineer, Tim MacFarlane, to withstand hurricane force winds.

 

The work has become the world’s largest glass sculpture, weighing more than 550,000 lbs. ( 275 tons ), sitting atop a skyscraper in a hurricane zone, and which has withstood multiple hurricane force winds since completion more than 20 years ago.

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TVS Design. : https://www.tvsdesign.com/

Dewhurst/Macfarlane Engineers. (Tim Macfarlane and James O’Callahan). http://www.glasslimited.com/ projects/