Project Location:
Macau
Glass Configuration:
19mm + 2.28SGP + 19mm + 2.28SGP + 19mm + 2.28SGP + 19mm + 2.28SGP+19mm urtal white tempered laminated adhesive
Maximum Glass Size:
8466mm * 2530mm
At Zhongbo Glass, we are committed to engineering glass that matches the grandeur of the world’s most luxurious destinations. Raffles at Galaxy Macau is an ultra-luxury hotel that epitomizes sophistication, refinement, and architectural ambition. To achieve its breathtaking transparent design, the project required structural glass elements of monumental thickness and flawless clarity — components that would serve as both load-bearing elements and invisible design features. We were selected as the exclusive manufacturer to deliver these glass masterpieces.
Our task was to produce ultra-clear, five-ply SentryGlas® Plus (SGP) laminated glass panels of a scale and thickness that very few factories on Earth can achieve. Each panel consists of five layers of 19mm low-iron tempered glass, bonded with four SGP interlayers, achieving a total thickness exceeding 104mm. At a maximum panel size of 8,466mm × 2,530mm, these are among the largest and thickest architectural SGP laminates ever produced. For Zhongbo Glass, Raffles at Galaxy Macau is not just a project — it is proof that we manufacture glass at the absolute apex of structural possibility.
The hotel’s design called for glass that functions as a transparent structural beam, fin, or feature wall. We fabricated a monolithic laminate of unprecedented density and integrity:
19mm Ultra-Clear Tempered + 2.28mm SentryGlas® Plus (SGP) + 19mm Ultra-Clear Tempered + 2.28mm SGP + 19mm Ultra-Clear Tempered + 2.28mm SGP + 19mm Ultra-Clear Tempered + 2.28mm SGP + 19mm Ultra-Clear Tempered — Fully Laminated
This configuration is the result of decades of expertise in structural SGP lamination:
Five Plies of 19mm Ultra-Clear Tempered Glass: Each 19mm layer is premium low-iron glass, fully tempered to a surface compression exceeding 69 MPa. This provides immense individual ply strength and a redundant safety system. The ultra-clear composition eliminates the greenish tint of standard glass, ensuring the glass remains brilliantly neutral even at over 100mm total thickness.
Four Layers of 2.28mm SGP Interlayer: SentryGlas® Plus ionoplast interlayer is used exclusively. SGP offers five times the tear strength and dramatically higher stiffness than PVB. With four interlayers bonding five glass plies, the finished laminate behaves as a monolithic structural block. Even under worst-case loading, the SGP holds every glass fragment securely in place, maintaining structural integrity and preventing catastrophic failure.
Total Thickness Exceeds 104mm: With 95mm of glass and 9.12mm of SGP, each panel is an engineered structural element weighing several tonnes. This extreme thickness provides the bending resistance and rigidity required for load-bearing applications in a super-luxury hotel environment.
The maximum panel size reached 8,466mm in length by 2,530mm in width, covering over 21 square meters. When combined with a thickness exceeding 104mm, each panel is a glass monolith that challenges the very definition of what architectural glass can be. A single panel weighs several tonnes and must be handled, laminated, and transported with engineering precision typically reserved for structural steel or concrete elements.
At Zhongbo Glass, we successfully produced these panels using our super-jumbo laminating technology. This project represents the ultimate convergence of size, thickness, and SGP lamination complexity.
Tempering a 19mm thick, 8.4-meter long sheet of ultra-clear glass is a significant challenge. The glass must be heated uniformly and quenched with precision to achieve full surface compression without excessive bow, roller-wave distortion, or spontaneous breakage risk. Our super-jumbo flat tempering furnace, one of the largest in the world, was calibrated with proprietary low-iron, thick-glass tempering profiles. We produced fifteen such plies (three panels of five plies each) with perfectly matched flatness and surface stress, ensuring a flawless lamination stack.
Laminating five 19mm plies with four SGP interlayers over an 8.46-meter span is arguably the most demanding lamination process in architectural glass. The challenges are immense: the stack is extremely thick and stiff, air is easily trapped, and any particle contamination or interlayer misalignment would render the entire panel unusable. Our proprietary process included:
Class 1 cleanroom layup using precision alignment jigs and vacuum lifters to position five massive glass sheets and four SGP interlayers in perfect registration without any dust or contamination.
Multi-stage vacuum bag de-airing with extended, computer-controlled cycles to extract every molecule of air from between the thick plies and stiff interlayers.
A customized autoclave cycle in our massive, high-pressure autoclave — one of the few in the world capable of processing panels over 8 meters long and 100mm thick. The cycle applied uniform heat and pressure over many hours, ensuring complete edge-to-edge SGP adhesion without glass displacement, bubble formation, or interlayer thinning.
The finished laminate is bubble-free, optically clear, and structurally monolithic. It is a single, transparent beam that can support design loads with the safety margin of a multi-redundant system.
Even with five plies of glass and four interlayers, the panel maintains the brilliant transparency demanded by the Raffles brand. Our use of premium low-iron glass prevents the greenish tint that would otherwise accumulate across 95mm of standard float glass. SGP’s superior optical clarity ensures the laminate remains perfectly transparent without the haze or yellowing sometimes associated with thick PVB laminates. The result is a glass fin or feature wall that disappears into the hotel’s opulent interior design.
Handling a 104mm-thick, 8.4-meter-long glass panel weighing several tonnes is a specialized engineering task in itself. We designed and fabricated:
Custom vacuum lifting beams with multiple suction cup arrays to safely rotate and maneuver the panels without inducing bending stress.
Reinforced transport stillages with continuous multi-point support cradles, vibration dampening, and protective interleaving.
Air-ride trailers and police-escorted convoys to transport these irreplaceable panels from our factory in Henan to the Galaxy Macau construction site. Every panel arrived in perfect condition, ready for precision installation.
The Raffles at Galaxy Macau project exemplifies the elite capabilities that set Zhongbo Glass apart as the definitive source for extreme structural glass:
Unrivaled Thickness and Ply Count: We are one of the only manufacturers in the world that can laminate five plies of 19mm glass with four SGP interlayers, achieving total thicknesses exceeding 100mm in jumbo panel sizes. This capability is the result of sustained investment in the largest autoclaves and cleanrooms in the industry.
SGP Lamination Supremacy: Our dedicated SGP processing lines produce flawless laminates for the most demanding structural applications — glass fins, beams, floors, bridges, and overhead canopies — meeting the strictest global safety and building codes.
Ultra-Clear Excellence at Extreme Thickness: We control the entire low-iron glass supply chain, ensuring that even our thickest multi-ply laminates maintain brilliant, neutral transparency.
Comprehensive In-House Engineering: From structural calculations and thermal stress analysis to custom logistics and installation support, we provide a complete solution that reduces risk and streamlines project delivery.
Proven Portfolio of World Records: Raffles at Galaxy Macau joins our peerless collection of landmark projects, including the Chengdu Science and Technology Museum (12.19m five-ply ribs), East Hall of Shanghai Museum (12.4m five-ply ribs), Banyan Tree Nanjing (seven-ply fins), and Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge (structural floor panels). Our track record of producing the world’s thickest, longest, and most complex SGP laminates is unmatched.
The Raffles at Galaxy Macau is a sanctuary of luxury, defined by space, light, and the structural glass that we at Zhongbo Glass engineered to disappear. We manufactured 8,466mm × 2,530mm ultra-clear five-ply SGP laminated glass panels — each over 104mm thick and weighing several tonnes — that serve as the hotel’s transparent structural backbone. This project is a definitive statement: when architecture demands the thickest, the largest, and the most structurally advanced glass on the planet, Zhongbo Glass is the manufacturer that delivers.
Contact Zhongbo Glass today to explore how our ultra-thick, multi-ply SGP laminated glass can become the defining structural element of your next luxury hotel, residential tower, or landmark commercial project. From concept to completion, our engineering team is ready to partner with you to push the boundaries of what glass can achieve.
