Chris asked about the glass walls with stainless steel tracery support.

This type of wall is very fashionable within architectural circles at
present.  We have done the engineering design (which basically drives the
architectural design in a lot of ways) for quite a few in Australia, Hong
Kong and Singapore over the past decade.

The support systems grew out of the Pilkington 'Planar' system of supporting
toughened glass walls for building lobbies.  This system was launched during
the 1980s, and provided point support for large sheets of glass.  It was, in
itself, a refinement of the patch fitting type approach.

The trouble with all of these approaches was the heavy steel supporting
structure behind.  I.M.Pei's glass pyramids at the Louvre are a classic
example of how the glass walls look transparent only when viewed from
straight on.  At all other angles, the supporting structure becomes a
significant obstruction.

In the late 1980s, the use of cable trusses to support glass walls was first
attempted.  I believe that the late Peter Rice, then of Ove Arup & Partners,
and later through his own practice of Rice, Francis, Ritchie, was one of the
pioneers.  A series of glass boxes at a building at the La Villette science
park on the northern perimeter of Paris was held up as an icon of the early
days of these glass walls.

In 1992 the firm I worked for at the time, Arup Facade Engineering, designed
a horizontal glass roof supported by cable trusses, and some walls to go with
it.  I believe the roof was the first in the world, and the walls were the
first in Australia.  Since then, numerous other glass walls have been
supported by cable trusses, and the technique has become relatively common.

Done well, I find it absolutely exquisite.  The glass walls can appear to
disappear completely when viewed from some directions.  Certainly, the
structure is not the most prominent element.  Done not so well, however, the
detailing of the cable trusses can become overpowering, and then the walls
can look very clumsy.

However, it is a system which requires a good knowledge of the limitations
during construction as well as the theoretical behaviour.

For those of you who have no idea of what I have been talking about, I will
post some photos at PigHabit-L.  There is one there now, of the glass roof I
mentioned, but it is a bit large, and I need to edit the other images first.

Cheers

david