Formerly known as the A.J. Palumbo Center, the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse is the home of the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams at Duquesne University. In addition to the primary arena, the building also houses the Folino Sports Performance Center, which features nearly 10,000 sq. ft. of athletic training equipment, performance labs and a nutritional center for the university’s student-athletes, as well as the Joe and Kathy Guyaux Player Development Center, which contains two regulation-sized basketball courts.

DRS Architects Inc. designed a bright, inviting street-facing façade that provides optimal daylighting for the inside of the facility and also aligns aesthetically with Duquesne University’s recent campus upgrades along Pittsburgh’s Forbes Avenue. Fabricator Trulite Glass & Aluminum Solutions and glazing contractor Gurtner & Sons Glazing produced the Solarban^® R67 Starphire^® glass that makes up the building’s façade and the Gilliand Pavilion, which offers impressive views of downtown Pittsburgh.

With a solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of 0.30 in a standard one-inch insulating glass unit (IGU), Solarban^® R67 Starphire^® glass offers exceptional solar control performance that improves the overall energy efficiency of the building. Its visible light transmittance of 57% indicates that Solarban^® R67 Starphire^® glass delivers abundant daylight to the building’s interior, especially along the northern façade leading to the Clearway Community Energy Gate.

The renaming of Duquesne University’s primary athletic facility honors Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and Duquesne alumnus Chuck Cooper, a Pittsburgh native and one of the first African American athletes to be drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1950. The renovation of the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse began in March 2019 and was completed over the course of 22 months, culminating in an opening event on February 2, 2021.

For more information about Solarban^® R67 Starphire^® glass and the rest of Vitro Glass’s full line of architectural glasses, visit www.vitroglazings.com or call 1-855-VTRO-GLS (887-6457).

About Vitro Architectural Glass

Vitro Architectural Glass, part of Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: VITROA), is the largest glass producer in the Western Hemisphere, manufacturing a range of industry-leading, energy-efficient, high-performance products such as Solarban^®, Sungate^® and Starphire Ultra-Clear^® glasses. Committed to continually raising the industry standard for sustainability, Vitro was the first U.S. glass manufacturer to have its complete collection of architectural glass products earn Cradle to Cradle Certified^® status and the first North American manufacturer to publish third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for flat glass and processed glass products. Additionally, as of April 2024, all Vitro architectural glass products meet the Top 20% Low Embodied Carbon (LEC) material Global Warming Potential (GWP) threshold the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) established pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and related guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Vitro operates seven glass production facilities across North America, four residential glass fabrication plants in Canada and one of the world’s largest glass research and development facilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit VitroGlazings.com.

Media Contact:
Robert J. Struble
Vitro Architectural Glass
412-820-8138
rstruble@vitro.com
www.vitroglazings.com