Smart Glass Applications with Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) Technology
Real-World Application of PDLC technology
The Part-time Guest Room
The 972-sq-ft one-bedroom apartment a young couple bought near Lincoln Center was almost perfect, especially the stunning views of the New York City skyline. However, they needed space for a small guest room that would later become a nursery. To accomplish that, they wanted to carve out space from the large living room to create an extra room.
While the New York City apartment had enough space to section off a 100-sq-ft portion for a guest room, the owners did not want to lose half the light and views by adding solid walls. Their architect came up with a unique solution.
Source for all images in sidebar: http://andrewmikhael.com/
Source for all case study images: Andrew Mikhael Architect, AIA, LEED AP
Photos courtesy of Glass Apps
These two views show the apartment’s large living room with two large windows looking out on the cityscape and allowing light to flood deep into the space.
That created another problem though: half of the light and views that flooded the living room, kitchen, and dining areas deep into the space would be blocked by any new walls. That seemed too high a price to pay.
The architect, Andrew Mikhael, came up with the idea of designing half walls of smart glass that could transform from clear to opaque as needs dictated.
Photos courtesy of Glass Apps
With the switchable glass walls set to opaque, enough privacy is created for those inside the space.
Photos courtesy of Glass Apps
Inside the room, with the switchable glass set to opaque, enough privacy is created for a guest to feel comfortable in the space. When no guest is visiting, or if the space transforms to a nursery and the parents want to keep an eye on the baby, the windows can be switched to clear.
Photos courtesy of Glass Apps
With PDLC smart glass, sections of a bathroom can have privacy or openness as needed, without blocking all the natural light.
Residential – Bathrooms
The design of bathrooms usually brings about a choice: open or enclosed spaces? In an open concept bathroom, the toilet area, bathing area, and sink area are all part of one big space. This creates a comfortable openness, but allows for little or no privacy for each function. The choice to enclose various bathroom functions within partition walls brings the desired privacy, but creates cut-off spaces. With the option of PDLC switchable glass partition walls, both goals—openness and privacy—can be achieved as desired.
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