Zoo visitors often complain about reflections on enclosure windows, which make it difficult to see the animals. Visitors to Cologne Zoo will now have a particularly good view of the geckos without any annoying reflections – thanks to the new Pilkington OptiView™.

The new terrarium in the Madagascar House has been glazed with a 3.46 m x 1.36 m anti-reflective pane made of Pilkington OptiView™ Protect. The anti-reflective laminated safety glass is part of the Pilkington OptiView™ product family, an innovation from the NSG Group. The laminated safety glass has excellent safety properties and, due to its low reflection, is particularly suitable for use in panoramic glazing in zoos or sports venues, shop windows and display cases.

Wolfgang Braß, Technical Director at Cologne Zoo, is very satisfied with the new glazing: ‘The glass fully meets our expectations and requirements. Our visitors can see and experience the animals much more directly than with conventional glazing. In addition, the laminated safety glass offers added safety. There are therefore already plans to glaze further enclosures with Pilkington OptiView™.’

Immediate experience

Conventional glass has a slight reflection and, depending on the lighting conditions, restricts visibility to varying degrees. This natural reflection can be particularly distracting in large-scale panoramic glazing. Pilkington OptiView™ anti-reflective glass has a particularly resistant anti-reflective coating, ensuring unrestricted visibility. The Pilkington OptiView™ product range is therefore ideal for panoramic windows – at home, in restaurants, at the zoo – and for all other applications where an (almost) direct experience of nature and the environment is important.

The product range also includes the anti-reflective low-emissivity glass, which, as part of an insulating glass unit, has excellent thermal insulation properties. This means that heat is retained inside the house while maintaining an unrestricted view, thereby reducing heating costs.