July 21, 2014

Glass Floors meet Sliding Glass Doors

Written by Rebecca Clayton

How to Improve Natural Light in Narrow Properties
IQ Glass - Sliding Doors meeting Glass Floor

As the UK’s leading architectural glazing company, IQ Glass is often the first to see any emerging trends in residential architecture. Over the years these trends have included materials used, building methods, and design aspects.


One current trend is the detail of glass rear doors, either sliding or bi-folding, with a flush floor detail meeting an internal or external glass floor. The glass floors are generally to allow light down into basements or lower ground floors and the large expanses of glass to the rear of the upper space create a large wall of natural light and a clear view out into the garden space.


This connection of horizontal glass to vertical glass is not an easy one and if not handled expertly and with careful detail, these complex areas of the structural glass design can damage your design. There are issues of drainage; where will the water from the glass doors and the water from the glass floor go? Also supporting and fixing: with flush floor finishes the framing is generally below floor level, so where do you fix the glass floor?


walk on floorlight and slim sldiing glass door on a modern home renovation to a London townhouse

Luckily, with years of experience designing and engineering technical, complex glass installations, IQ has developed some key design details to help achieve the impossible for architects and designers. The introduction of our Flush Threshold Drain solves the problem of drainage from these delicate areas with the drainage channel sitting flush with both the track and the external glass floor.


IQ Glass has also developed our own methods of fixing and supporting these structural glass floors with no obvious supporting places. This was evidenced in our Portland Road project, where minimal glass sliding doors met a large frameless glass floor both inside and out. To achieve the frameless effect, all finishing and fixing details have been concealed beneath the finished floor levels, leaving nothing but flawless, minimal design.IQ Glass Architectural Glazing Showroom Glass Box Extension


The integrated drainage channel on the Portland Road project allows the rainwater to drain with ease, away from the doors to ensure the internal living space never incurs any flooding issues. The sleek systems work to enhance each other, with the glass floors and oversized sliding systems granting the illusion of a bigger space.


Contact us for more information about our proprietary fixing techniques or for any assistance on more difficult design aspects of your project.


01494 722 880 | www.iqglassuk.com | hello@iqglassuk.com


If you would like to discuss your project in person, arrange a visit to our architectural glass showroom in Amersham.

The Courtyard Showroom | Raans Road | Amersham | HP6 6FT