For over 50 years, the BancFirst Tower has stood as a landmark fixture of Oklahoma City’s downtown skyline and remains the second-tallest building. Originally constructed in 1971, the 500-foot, 36-floor structure began major renovations in early 2020, which included upgrades to its exterior windows, plaza, and landscaping areas.

With occupant comfort, energy efficiency and transparency at the top of mind, Bockus-Payne-Associates Architects selected Solarban^® R67 (formerly Solarban^® 67) Optiblue^® glass for this historic transformation. 

Thanks to a proprietary double-silver magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) coating developed by Vitro, Solarban^® R67 glass delivers exceptional levels of solar control performance while providing high transparency. 

In addition to its crisp clarity, Solarban^® R67 glass provides extraordinary performance attributes to help architects meet the increasingly stringent energy and environmental performance mandates required by contemporary building codes. 

Bockus-Payne-Associates Architects also specified Optiblue^® glass, a light‑bodied, neutral color tint that optimizes the performance and aesthetics of Solarban^® glass coatings. Combining Optiblue^® glass with Solarban^® R67 glass in a standard one-inch insulating glass unit (IGU) results in a 0.25 solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and a visible light transmittance (VLT) of 39 %. 

The switch from monolithic glass to insulated double pane glass with low-e coatings enables a great energy reduction for future operation costs.

A curtainwall upgrade allows for stunning views of the Oklahoma City skyline and BancFirst Tower plaza. (Photography: Tom Kessler)