The Institute of Building Construction, Technische Universität Dresden, is decisively involved in the development of transparent space grid structures. These structures base on steel space structures, at which all steel members in the compression layer are replaced by in-plane load bearing glass panes. In 2009, the first glass roof made of this new construction type was erected above the inner courtyard of the Berlin palace Reichstagspräsidentenpalais.
The roof consists of a single curved, double layer transparent space grid structure with dimensions of 14 m x 21 m. The load transfer in the compression layer is ensured by insulating glass units with regular dimensions of 1.80 m x 1.26 m. This contribution describes the concept, the structural design, the testing and the erection of the first transparent space grid structure with load bearing structural glass.