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TJSL Staircase Earns Award Recognition from Glass Magazine

September 19, 2011

Crystal Award
Crystal Award
Crystal Award

The new Thomas Jefferson School of Law building has become one of downtown San Diego’s most impressive pieces of architecture and continues to earn award recognition to prove it.

This month, Glass Magazine announced that Custom Components Company, one of the contractors involved with the law school project, is the 2011 winner of the “Crystal Achievement Award for Most Innovative Hardware” for its role in the construction of the beautiful spiral staircase in the building’s lobby.  The company received the award for its design of a glass bracket made specifically to accommodate the helix arch of the school’s staircase. 

“This recognition confirms the imaginative design to create an appearance of openness and functionality for one of the most architecturally significant aspects of the new facility,” said TJSL Dean Rudy Hasl.

The design of the impressive staircase was a collaboration between design among S2 Architecture, Fehlman LaBarre (which merged with Carrier Johnson, the executive architect of the new campus), and ID Studios of Solana Beach that designed most of the building’s interior.

The bracket allowed for the use of glass panels to simulate a true radius as the glass transcends from entry level to the third floor.  They can be seen affixed to the stainless steel posts, holding the glass panels in place, and creating one of the law school’s most beautiful and distinct features. 

“The biggest challenge was creating a design that would allow the use of segmented glass panels on the monumental staircase.  We are very pleased with the results of this project”, said David Janosz, Marketing Manager, Custom Components Company.

In addition to designing, manufacturing and installing the glass bracket, Custom Components also supplied and installed more than 500 linear feet of stainless steel glass railing in the lobby and stainless steel cable railing and handrail in the classrooms and entrances of the new TJSL campus. 

The award, together with a nice photo display of the TJSL staircase and the custom brackets, was featured in the September issue of Glass Magazine, a professional association journal.

Each year the “Crystal Achievement Award” winners are selected by a panel of judges representing all segments of the glass industry.  According to Glass Magazine, the awards recognize the best products, glass applications and innovations in the commercial, retail and fabrication markets.  There were more than 150 nominations this year.

“The level of competition this year . . . shows a tremendous effort within our industry to continue to push the boundaries, while still providing quality on all levels to satisfy the architectural community, as well as building ownership,” said 2011 Crystal Achievement Award Judge Les Young, project manager with W&W Glass LLC in Nanuet, NY.