Shining New Light — Geometrica

Skylights are widely used to admit steady, even light into industrial, commercial, or institutional buildings. Installations range from purely functional daylighting for energy efficiency to elaborate aesthetic forms that dramatically transform space with breathtaking design.

The Children's Museum (Puerto Rico) features a center-court, sky dome, clad with safety glass (video 0:56)

Open skylights used in ancient and gothic architecture are known as oculus (plural oculi, which is Latin for “eye”). Many examples are found in European cathedrals. The circular opening at the dome’s apex allows sunshine to brilliantly light the interior. Open to the weather, it also allows rain to enter and fall to the floor.

Fast-forward through the Industrial Revolution and glass became a favorite architectural material. Glazed ‘closed’ skylights evolved in use, context and shape. And today, with free-form structural support, turning a skylight vision into reality is more sophisticated than ever before. Geometrica offers solutions to meet the demand for modern skylight design with elegance, reliability and efficiency.

Glass and opaque cladding combine in free-style to provide striking visual effects

Our structures are built with lightweight, strong, corrosion-resistant galvanized steel or aluminum tubes that are connected via patented aluminum hubs. The connection of tubes with hubs is compact, simple and extremely efficient. When all the tubes of a single hub are assembled, the joint is completed with washers and a single bolt. No welding is required. The finished joint is strong and the tubes resist bending moments at the joint.

Outer locus brings oculus into focus (San Juan Church, Mexico)

In conventional structures, secondary structural elements to support glazing are often as heavy as the main structure itself. With the Geometrica system, the cladding can be affixed directly to the space frame members, without secondary structural elements.

Cladding is more than just a protective skin, with the right design and construction, it adds a breathtaking architectural element to a skylight. Safety glass in single or insulated panels provides for attractive use in museums, exhibition space and assembly buildings.

Geometrica offers our exclusive GL-48 glazing system, a three-way arrangement of continuous gutters. It provides redundant protection against water leakage or condensation. Structural seals prevent infiltration. Condensate gutters in all the skylight mullions capture moisture and carry it to primary gutters, which are uninterrupted from the water break to the dome’s edge.

GL-48 system installation

Renovating or adding to an existing building? Geometrica structures require few, if any, changes to existing supports and foundations. The light weight of our structures simplifies the design of retractable roofs too.

This dome covers a common area and can be opened to invite in fresh air and sunshine

Geometrica covers great spans (up to 300m) in any shape without intermediate support columns. Whether rigid or soft, opaque or transparent, lightweight or heavy, our structures withstand the elements.

Beautiful near the beach: Hyatt Cancun's 37m glass-clad Lamella skylight

Geometrica skylights, space frames, facades, vaults and free-style architectural domes are beautiful and cost effective. Since 1992, we have delivered sports facilities, exhibition centers, passenger terminals, malls, museums, houses of worship, production facilities and many other buildings in over 35 countries. Let your mind and spirit soar! The options are endless.

Freedome® skylights at the Papalote Museum in Monterrey, Mexico

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