The perfect wave – made from glass.

This beauty is about 3 m high and 27 m wide.It appears to be in the process of rearing up and forming a barrel – a water tunnel – which is a dream come true for surfers. It lures you in with its deep aquamarine hue and sparkling white spray – a true wonder to behold.

But fear not, there's no chance of being swallowed up by this monster wave from Bali; it's just the new facade of the changing area at the Mammendorf open-air swimming pool. Architects from the firm Dinkel came up with the idea which was executed perfectly by FLACHGLAS Wernberg using a photograph taken by Bodo Mertoglu.

Truth be told: The Mammendorf wave is actually build up of three parts. These were put together using image processing to from a super wave. We then deconstructed it once more and distributed them over 67 individual panes of glass. The trick was making sure it did not end up looking like a puzzle but rather it should seem uncannily real and draw each visitor into its spell. It was exactly these tough requirements that were decisive in the commissioning of the printing specialists here at FLACHGLAS Wernberg.

But it was not only the printing finish that posed a challenge; the building of the new changing area had to be integrated into a existing roof meaning that numerous beams had to taken into account. After a digital and a screen printing stage, we finally delivered the approximately 150 sqm of toughened safety glass according to assembly order. Each pane had a tiny position number printed on it to avoid parts of the design becoming mixed up during installation.

In addition to the mighty wave itself glass doors also formed part of the contract which visitors of the pool use to access the various parts of the changing area. They were designed in special bold colours. Not only to facilitate a quick and easy orientation but also to ensure people won't mistake the printed wave for the real thing and cheerily throw themselves into it.