Custom Production

Glass Roofs and Glass Domes

RIVA manufactured and erected moving glass and steel domes that in spite of their dimensions exude lightness and elegance for the expansion work carried out at the Holy Mosque in Mecca. These so-called movable skylights are controlled by computer and may be opened across their entire size of 30 × 18 meters.

Specially developed drives move and lift the almost 300-tonne heavy glass dome in a way that is both impressive and graceful. When opened, it serves to ventilate the generous atria that extend across several floors. But the dome's full effect, which is why it is regarded as a true highlight among RIVA's many achievements, only unfolds when it is closed.

A total of 237 stainless-steel profiles, some of which have been decorated with gold-plated covers, converge on 54 hubs machined from solid material. These bear the weight of the refined multiply laminated insulating glass panes.

Hundreds of Swarovski glass prisms were mounted on these hubs to break up the incoming sunlight into its spectral colours to create a breathtaking spectacle of light when the lighting conditions are correspondingly favourable.

Twelve of these moving glass domes have currently been installed at the newly built expansion complex at the Holy Mosque in Mecca.

RIVA has also installed six additional non-opening glass roofs in the vicinity of the moving glass domes. These skylights do not possess the size of the ‘movable skylights’ but have been planned, designed and manufactured to the same high level of expertise.

The incoming sunlight that passes through the glazed areas illuminates the rooms beneath them in a wonderfully natural way. A total of 20 fans concealed along the length of the building are responsible for continuous ventilation. They have also been designed to remove smoke particularly efficiently from the affected areas in the event of fire.