Freedom in design has taken the construction industry to new heights, with concepts that were previously thought to be impossible brought to life by advances in mounting technology. When it comes to mounting technology, tesa is making the impossible projects possible, with their game-changing ACXplus® double sided acrylic foam tape technology.

Brining freedom in design to life requires structural integrity and aesthetics to work hand in hand, in order to bring a unique and charismatic concept to life. Aesthetic flourishes seen in the recently completed Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam would not be possible without the secure fastening of tesa’s ACXplus® tape.

Glass panels at the Rijksmuseum satellite facility on Holland Boulevard at Schiphol Airport

The curved inner walls of the Rijksmuseum glass pavilion of the airport’s Holland Boulevard consists of 10,000 individual glass panels, securely fastened using ACXplus® tape. This unique fastening material makes this kind of innovative design possible like never before. This façade is the first of its kind; glass constructions of this size – 2,200sq m and weighing 68 tons – have never been completed before. Thanks to tesa’s innovative fastening solutions, the art treasures of the Rijksmuseum Schiphol can now shine behind walls of broken glass, cutting through the light like a diamond.

More than 10,000 glass elements were joined together to create a semi-transparent, curved façade

Glassolutions, who installed the glass panels on the Rijksmuseum project, received the technical support tesa pride themselves on in order to turn the glass pavilion into a solid construction of sustainable quality.

ACXplus® is as useful for such visually arresting features like the Rijksmuseum’s façade as it is for smaller, more intimate and practical projects – indoors and out. The special properties of the high-tech adhesive make it ideal for the mounting of any panels, from aluminium composites, to glass, to metal sub-structures. ACXplus® is designed to withstand outdoor conditions and the panel’s dead weight.

A special bonding process is used on certain assembly units to apply the ACXplus® tapes to the edges of the glass panels.

tesa account manager Eric Deibel says the research and development team from tesa are working to change the image we have of tape in the design community. “Tape is a responsible connecting material, but its possibilities depend on the forces which apply to the specific construction,” he says “For the non-constructional glass walls at the Schiphol airport, ACXplus® was the right choice. This high-quality tape sticks well to rigid substrates and glass and, due to its high viscoelasticity, it effectively absorbs any frictions and stress in the construction”

In any construction project, glass can pose a great challenge. Thanks to tesa, this challenge became an opportunity, with the freedom of design being expanded in all directions.