Clear Inputs
Engineering checks should feel simple at the front, even when the engineering behind them is detailed.
About VitraLab
Facade engineering tools for the small details that decide the job.
VitraLab starts with structural glass calculation, but the ambition is wider: a focused engineering workspace for facade systems, connections, fixings, brackets, aluminium, steel, and the checks that sit between design intent and site reality.
Purpose
Not only glass. The facade as a structure.
A facade is not just a pane, a frame, or a bracket. It is a chain of small structural decisions: how load travels through glass, aluminium, steel, screws, bolts, bearings, anchors, and supports. VitraLab is being shaped around that chain.
Readable Checks
Outputs should show what governs, why it governs, and whether the design passes.
Practical Scope
From glass panels to fixings and frame components, the focus is usable project calculation.
Big systems fail through small details.
VitraLab is for the engineer who wants those details visible, checkable, and easier to communicate.
Current focus: structural glass ULS, SLS, deflection, wind, maintenance, barrier, monolithic, laminated, and DGU checks.
Facade direction: stick curtain walling, unitised systems, support conditions, load paths, and component checks.
Connection direction: screw pull-out, bearing, shear, tension, bolt checks, allowable stresses, and aluminium or steel bearing behaviour.
Product direction: focused tools that produce clear calculation summaries instead of hiding the engineering in black-box output.
Future Engineering Checks
A growing calculation workspace for facade structures
The roadmap is to add small, reliable tools for the checks facade teams repeat again and again.
Screws & Fixings
Pull-out, shear, tension, bearing, and combined action checks for practical fixing design.
Bolts & Plates
Shear, tension, bearing, spacing, edge distance, and allowable check workflows.
Aluminium & Steel
Local bearing, section behaviour, connection response, and supporting member checks.
Curtain Walling
Stick and unitised facade workflows, from member actions to connection details.
Load Paths
Wind, dead load, imposed load, and local reactions carried through the facade assembly.
Reports
Clear calculation outputs that can support review, coordination, and design decisions.
Start with the glass calculator.
More facade tools can grow around the same clean workflow.