Sixth and Guadalupe: Structural Glazing for an Iconic Austin Landmark

Sixth and Guadalupe is a 66-story mixed-use tower in downtown Austin, Texas. As the city's second-tallest building, it has become a defining feature of Austin's rapidly evolving skyline.

The 1.25-million-square-foot development combines 589,000 square feet of Class-A office space, 349 luxury residences, street-level retail, parking, and elevated amenity spaces within a single mixed-use destination.

Designed by Gensler, the tower's distinctive angled form responds to Austin's Texas Capitol View Corridors. These protected sightlines preserve views of the Texas State Capitol from locations around the city, influencing the building's geometry and creating its recognizable silhouette.

The unusual form placed specific demands on the building's glass façade. UltraGlaze™ SSG4600 Structural Glazing Sealant was selected for the unitized curtain wall system to help provide the design strength, flexibility, and long-term weather resistance required for a high-performance glass façade.

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How Do Complex Tower Forms Affect Curtain Wall Design?

Modern high-rise façades must balance architectural ambition with practical performance. As building forms become more complex, curtain wall systems need to accommodate movement, environmental exposure, and fabrication requirements while maintaining long-term façade integrity.

For Sixth and Guadalupe, the tower's angled geometry was an important consideration in delivering an efficient unitized curtain wall system. The structural glazing solution needed to support the glass while allowing the façade to accommodate movement throughout the building's service life.

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Designed for Efficient Unitized Curtain Wall Production

For large unitized curtain wall systems, production efficiency can be just as important as in-service performance. Fabrication teams need materials that can accommodate production schedules while supporting consistent application across a large number of individual units.

UltraGlaze SSG4600 is a two-part structural glazing sealant with an adjustable 20- to 90-minute work life, allowing fabrication teams to adapt the material to production requirements. Low pumping viscosity and high application rates support efficient joint filling and tooling, while primerless adhesion and rapid strength build-up can help streamline assembly.

These application characteristics helped support Win-Con, the glazing contractor, during fabrication and installation of the extensive unitized curtain wall system.

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Supporting Long-Term Façade Performance in Austin

Once installed, a high-rise curtain wall must accommodate ongoing thermal movement, wind loading, and exposure to changing weather conditions.

UltraGlaze SSG4600 sealant provides 30 psi tensile design strength and durable flexibility to help support façade performance. The silicone sealant is designed to resist heat, humidity, UV radiation, and changing environmental conditions while maintaining flexibility over time.

For a tower with an unconventional geometry and extensive glass façade, these properties can help support long-term performance while maintaining the clean visual character of the building.

Together, the structural glazing sealant and unitized curtain wall system helped support a durable, high-performance façade for one of Austin's most recognizable new developments.

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Awards & Recognition

In 2025, Residences at Sixth and Guadalupe received the Austin Business Journal Commercial Real Estate Award for High-Rise Multifamily Development. The tower also achieved LEED Gold certification and a three-star Austin Energy Green Building rating.

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Partenaires du projet

Developer: Lincoln Property Company, Kairoi Residential
Architect: Gensler
General Contractor: JE Dunn
Glazing Contractor: Win-Con

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What Is Unitized Curtain Wall?

A unitized curtain wall is a façade system assembled from prefabricated panels or "units" that are typically manufactured and glazed off-site before being transported to the building and installed in sequence.

This approach can offer advantages on large high-rise projects by allowing façade fabrication to take place concurrently with other construction activities. It also places greater importance on consistent glazing processes and materials that can support efficient production.

For projects such as Sixth and Guadalupe, structural glazing sealant is an important component of the unitized façade assembly, helping secure the glass while accommodating movement and environmental exposure.

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Key Considerations for Structural Glazing in High-Rise Buildings

When selecting a structural glazing sealant for a high-rise curtain wall, project teams may consider:

• Tensile design strength for structural glazing requirements
• Flexibility to accommodate thermal and building movement
• Application characteristics that support efficient fabrication
• Work life suited to production requirements
• Adhesion to specified substrates
• UV and weather resistance for long-term exterior exposure
• Tear resistance for demanding façade applications

UltraGlaze SSG4600 Structural Glazing Sealant combines these performance and application characteristics for structural glazing applications.

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Questions fréquemment posées

What is a unitized curtain wall?

A unitized curtain wall is a prefabricated façade system in which individual curtain wall units are assembled and typically glazed off-site before being transported to the building for installation. This can help streamline façade installation on large high-rise projects.

Why is structural glazing used in curtain wall systems?

Structural glazing uses a structural sealant to bond glass to the supporting frame and transfer loads within the façade assembly. It can also help create clean exterior sightlines by reducing the need for visible mechanical connections.

What challenges do high-rise glass façades face?

High-rise glass façades can experience wind loading, thermal expansion and contraction, UV radiation, humidity, precipitation, and other environmental exposure. Curtain wall materials need to accommodate these conditions while maintaining long-term performance.

Why is flexibility important in structural glazing?

Glass and supporting façade components can expand and contract as temperatures change. A flexible structural glazing sealant can accommodate this movement while maintaining adhesion and helping support the integrity of the façade assembly.

What is important when selecting a structural glazing sealant for unitized curtain walls?

Production teams may consider factors such as work life, application rate, viscosity, adhesion, and strength development during fabrication. Long-term performance characteristics such as tensile design strength, flexibility, tear resistance, and weather resistance are also important.

What structural glazing sealant was used at Sixth and Guadalupe?

UltraGlaze SSG4600 Structural Glazing Sealant was selected for the unitized curtain wall system at Sixth and Guadalupe in Austin, Texas. The sealant provides 30 psi tensile design strength, durable flexibility, and resistance to heat, humidity, UV radiation, and weather exposure.

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Performance results are those of customer reported accounts, and are not to be relied upon as typical or expected under any other circumstances. Performance results will vary depending upon a number of process-related factors. Prospective customers should rely solely upon their own evaluative techniques to determine what processing parameters are attainable and optimal to their specific needs. Further note that Momentive is not endorsed by or affiliated with any ownership authority of Sixth and Guadalupe.