New Wegmans Supermarket Maintains Vintage Look with Bendheim Architectural Glass

Unique “Hybrid” Glass Creates Vintage Look in New Wegmans Supermarket

NEW YORK, NY – Several unique products from architectural glass manufacturer Bendheim, including an innovative hybrid solution, were incorporated into the design of the recently-opened Wegmans supermarket in Brooklyn, NY.

The highly-anticipated 74,000 square foot supermarket opened in October at the former Brooklyn Navy Yard, where ships were constructed for battles during the Civil War. Designed by S9 Architecture of New York and Wegmans, the store was Wegmans’ 101st overall and 47th in New York.

Bendheim products were used in the store’s mezzanine-level Market Café and along a staircase that leads to the bar, also on the mezzanine level. The café features EcoGlass™ Gothic Textured Glass. The hybrid glass along the staircase is a custom combination of Bendheim’s Pale Grey Diamond Wire Laminated Glass and VintageWire™ Gothic Laminated Architectural Glass. It is also used inside the café.

“The architects wanted to create an all-industrialized look,” said Dan Stewart, a Design Technician with Bendheim. “We created this vintage-textured diamond wire glass. The designers liked the texture of the Gothic Wire and the aesthetic of the Diamond Wire. We took the elements of the two types of glass and combined them to make something completely new for the store.”

Designers from Wegmans collaborated with Stewart to develop the hybrid solution. The glass offers privacy, and the vintage wire aesthetic ties the design back to the building’s historic character. The glass is laminated safety and meets modern building codes. “We kept the antique appeal but modified the build of the glass for the modern age,” Stewart said.

More than 25,000 customers visited the new Brooklyn Wegmans on its first day, helping it snap an opening-day sales record. Shoppers lined up in the rain and stood for more than seven hours to be among the first in the store.

The project was developed by Steiner NYC, and the opening concluded a design and construction process that lasted more than four years. The Wegmans’ site was part of the Navy Yard’s Admiral’s Row, a collection of 10 abandoned historic houses once used by Navy officers. It is interesting to note that historic preservationists opposed the development.