When architecture firm Partisans was designing a transparent booth for appliance manufacturer Monogram’s launch of its minimalist collection at the Toronto Interior Design Show, it turned to AGNORA.

Adam Mitchell, marketing manager for AGNORA, says the glass allowed booth visitors to see the front and back of each appliance rather than hiding one side from view. Monogram’s booth contained only the appliances, the transparent glass structure and two augmented reality (AR) screens. This setup gave visitors a chance to see what their kitchen could look like using AR.

Photo: AGNORA | Adam Mitchell

The project included approximately 20 laminated glass lites fit together by a custom metal structure. The laminated glass was made using 12 mm heat strengthened, low-iron glass and a SentryGlas interlayer. The largest lite was 9 by 11 feet while the longest lite, a three-layer counter top with two cutouts used to simulate a kitchen island, was 4 by 16 feet. Aluminum channels were used to hold the bottom and top of the vertical glass lites but the glass was structural. Some parts of the booth featured glass supporting glass with no hardware.

“We created a slot in the upper laminate to hold the verticals,” says Louis Moreau, head of technology and innovation

Photo: AGNORA | Adam Mitchell

The short timeframe was a challenge, says Moreau. He explains that it was a couple of weeks before Christmas and the booth was over budget and not yet created. Moreau found a few glass lites the company had on hand and incorporated those into the project design. AGNORA’s staff worked over Christmas break to get the project done in time for the show, which took place in mid-January.

“My main concern was that everything needed to be safe. We wanted people to be safe during assembly and for visitors to stay safe during the show,” says Moreau, who adds that his team pre-assembled the booth in AGNORA’s warehouse prior to the show to ensure the process was smooth and safe.

The company redesigned its racks to make it easy to transport and install quickly per the short time span. Cambridge Architectural Systems installed the glass onsite using an 8-axis manipulator. Some of the glass lites weighed 1,170 pounds.