02 · OUR WORK
Glass balustrades
Stairs, landings, balconies and roof terraces, structural glass that holds a barrier load, whether fixed frameless or held in posts and a rail.
- Toughened laminated
- Frameless or post-fixed
- Polished edges
The brief
A balustrade is the one piece of glass in a house doing structural work. It is there to stop somebody falling, and it has to do that while staying as close to invisible as the drawing promised.
The work here runs from a cantilevered staircase to an exterior roof terrace, and the fixing method changes with every one of them.
What we made
Toughened laminated panels, and the fixings that carry them: stainless steel standoffs bolted through the glass on the staircases, clamp fixings on a curved flight, and posts carrying a round handrail on the exterior runs.
On the roof terrace the same panel is obscured rather than clear glass, which lets light through without a clear view.
The glass spec
Barrier glazing is toughened laminated rather than plain toughened: laminated so that if a pane is broken it stays in place until it can be changed.
Thickness follows the fixing method and the load the barrier has to hold, so it is worked out per run rather than picked off a list, heavier for a frameless panel, lighter where the glass is infill inside a post-and-rail frame. Holes for standoffs are drilled and the edges polished before the glass is toughened.
- Glass
- Toughened laminated safety glass
- Makeup
- Set by the fixing method and the imposed load, per run
- Fixings
- Stainless standoffs, base channel, or posts with a handrail
- Edges
- Polished all round
- Options
- Clear, or obscured where there is a privacy problem
A barrier has to be worked out for the load it will hold and how it is fixed, so it is surveyed rather than priced from a form.
9 photographs
Our own photographs of finished work. We have not named the customers or the addresses, the jobs were not photographed for publication, and we are not going to invent captions for them.
Fixings used on work like this
Real stock from our own catalogue, at your price.
- Standoff, 45 mm - SWPF8330A-3A1SWPF8330A-3A1£12.60inc. VAT
- Standoff, 10 mm Back SpacerSWPF8330A-3A10£15.00inc. VAT
- Standoff, 20 mm Back SpacerSWPF8330A-3A20£15.60inc. VAT
- Standoff, 30 mm Back SpacerSWPF8330A-3A30£18.60inc. VAT
- Standoff, 50 mm Back SpacerSWPF8330A-3A50£21.00inc. VAT
- Standoff, 30 mm Diameter - SWPF8330A-3SWPF8330A-3£12.60inc. VAT
- Set of Washers for StandoffSWWSHR8330£1.56inc. VAT
- Standoff Tightening SpannerSWSPNR8330£7.80inc. VAT
How a project like this runs with us
1. Survey
Send drawings or rough quantities. Where the openings need it, we measure on site so every panel is made to what is built, not to what was drawn.
2. Drawings
Every glass item gets a drawing with its sizes, edgework, holes and hardware, for you or your architect to sign off before anything is cut.
3. Programme
We agree batches and dates against your build programme, so glass arrives when the floor is ready for it, not before.
4. Deliveries to site
Own vans, own drivers. Deliveries are booked to your programme and to the site contact you name.
5. Fitting through our network
If you want it fitted, we offer the job to vetted independent fitters who cover your postcode and fit that kind of glass.
Planning something like this? Talk to us
- Call us020 7751 0011Fulham: Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00Call now
- Email usinfo@sw-glass.co.ukAttach photos, drawings or a list of sizes.Write to us
- Start a projectSeven short steps, with a rough price for standard items.Rough quantities, drawings and your programme.Start now
Send us your drawings
PDF, JPEG or PNG. An email or a phone number is enough; we reply within one working day.