Macy’s brick facade on Wabasha and 6th in St. Paul has been renovated into the new Treasure Island Center and TRIA Rink which features four-stories of glass curtainwall. The fifth floor open-air parking lot has been transformed into an ice arena for the Minnesota Wild to hold practices.

Empirehouse partnered with RJM Construction and Collaborative Design Group as the architectural glass and metal contractor setting approximately 20,000 square feet of glass on this high-profile project.

The TRIA Rink was glazed with approximately 6,500 square feet of state-of-the-art electrochromatic SageGlass. This programmable smart glass automatically tints as the sun moves across the sky so occupants can enjoy uninterrupted views of the city without glare. It provides a comfortable controlled climate without the sun’s heat gain, and it is a sustainability solution with LEED certification points.

Innovative design-assist solutions

The ice arena curtainwall posed another challenge: the structural engineers working the project required six inches of deflection in the steel roof trusses above the curtainwall system. RJM Construction tasked the architect and trades involved to develop ahead detail that could accommodate this deflection. Empirehouse team came up with an innovative solution and incorporated a Tremco silicone sheet to help accommodate the movement while keeping the building watertight. Then custom break metal was added to protect the silicone sheet and provide a finished product that met the architect’s design intent.

The other area Empirehouse provided design assist was at the 20’ x 7’ Solar Innovations operable glass window wall in the level 2 curtainwall system. Steel reinforcing within the verticals and mullions were engineered to support the full-width opening.

Scope of Work:

• Below the ice arena, Empirehouse installed three floors of 7-1/2″ deep Old Castle Reliance fully captured curtainwall system which was glazed with approximately 13,500 square feet of 1″ blue tinted insulating glass with a high performance low ’e‘ coating
• Approximately 200 lineal feet of custom post-mounted Trex guardrail system glazed with 5/16″ clear tempered laminated glass
• Approximately 500 square feet of standard 2″ x 4.5″ fully captured clear class I anodized Oldcastle FG3000T aluminum storefront framing assemblies glazed with 1″ blue Pacifica tinted glass with high performance low e coating at exterior assemblies and 1/4″ clear tempered glass at interior assemblies
• Aluminum swinging doors glazed with 1″ blue Pacifica tinted insulated glass with high-performance low ’e‘ coating
• Glazed sliding doors: Three fully automatic bi-parting sliding door assemblies glazed with 1″ clear insulated glass, 1″ blue Pacifica tinted insulated glass with high performance low ’e‘ coating, or 1/4″ clear tempered glass
• Approximately 50 lineal feet of plexiglass dividers set within 1″ x 1″ clear anodized aluminum sill channel at the General Manager’s observation booth
• Borrowed lites and fire-rated glass