At UCSD Jacobs Medical Center, a point-fixed structural glass façade—fabricated with Solarban 70 glass on Starphire Ultra-Clear glass by Vitro Architectural Glass—reinforces patient-centered care.
Benjamin Korman At UCSD Jacobs Medical Center, a point-fixed structural glass façade—fabricated with Solarban 70 glass on Starphire Ultra-Clear glass by Vitro Architectural Glass—reinforces patient-centered care.

Patient-first care is alive and well at Jacobs Medical Center, a 509,000-square-foot, 245-bed medical and surgical specialty hospital that fuses modern technology, forward-thinking design, and a healing environment. Part of the University of California San Diego Health System, the Jacobs Medical Center facility is distinguished by a striking curvilinear form wrapped in a gleaming, point-fixed structural glass façade fabricated with Solarban 70 glass (formerly Solarban 70XL glass) on Starphire Ultra-Clear glass by Vitro Architectural Glass.

At Jacobs Medical Center, Starphire glass enables a true-color rendition of a customized silk-screened white frit.
Benjamin Korman At Jacobs Medical Center, Starphire glass enables a true-color rendition of a customized silk-screened white frit.

CannonDesign specified abundant use of a glass configuration consisting of ultra-clear low-iron glass and transparent, solar control, low-E glass to give patients clear views of the nearby hills and ocean. These soothing vistas, along with plenty of natural daylight, and glare and noise control help create a healing, relaxing atmosphere. Although the glass configuration met all performance requirements, the specification had to be adjusted to achieve another design objective. That required close collaboration between Vitro and Northwestern Industries, Inc., a Vitro-certified fabricator.

“Part of what makes this project unique is the whitish exterior look the architect wanted the building to have,” explains Frank Forgione of NWI. “We worked with Vitro’s technical team to test various glass samples and mock-ups; ultimately, we put a customized silk-screened white frit on Starphire Ultra-Clear glass, which we then laminated onto the Solarban 70 glass.”

Low-iron glass, such as Starphire Ultra-Clear glass, is made with a formulation that gives it heightened levels of clarity and transparency compared to traditional “clear” glass, which often displays an undesirable green tint. Because there is no ASTM specification for low-iron glass, clarity levels can vary widely based on how they are manufactured and the levels of iron found in their formulae. Starphire Ultra-Clear glass is 87% less green than ordinary clear glass, without any gray or yellow tints.

Jacobs Medical Center’s freeform style minimizes conventional right-angle corners to maximize daylighting, and provide easier navigation for patients.
Benjamin Korman Jacobs Medical Center’s freeform style minimizes conventional right-angle corners to maximize daylighting, and provide easier navigation for patients.

The silk-screened, low-E, low-iron configuration was used extensively, including on the 11-foot, 8-inch floor-to-ceiling windows in all patient rooms; the front-glazed, unitized curtain wall system; and the spandrel shadow-box glazing. More than 100,000 square feet of glass was installed. To handle this volume and facilitate the timely shipment of glass orders to ENCLOS, the glazing contractor, NWI worked with Vitro representatives to ensure logistical success. “We worked closely with ENCLOS to meet their scheduling requirements, and worked through Vitro’s concierge program, which allowed us to stay on top of everything,” Forgione says.

The freeform style of the building minimizes conventional right-angle corners and maximizes daylighting, creating natural flow of daylight through corridors and providing easier navigation for patient beds. Since opening in November 2016, Jacobs Medical Center has passed its check-ups with flying colors. Groundbreaking research and education, advanced surgical technologies and a patient-first ethos in an architecturally significant setting haven’t just transformed the traditional hospital stay. They’ve ushered in a new era of health care.

To learn more about Starphire glass by Vitro Architectural Glass, visit www.vitroglazings.com.