Glass For Balconies

IQ Glass design and install a near frameless structural glass balcony that can cantilever from a building.

Glass Balconies

Glass can be engineered to create a minimal glass balcony that can be cantilevered from the external face of a building or from an internal level change.

The number of structural supports or frames required for a glass balcony installation will differ depending on the structure of the original fixing, size, and weight of the load. An architectural glass company like IQ Glass will do all detailed calculations as well as provide any structural engineering that may be required for the structural glass balcony.

Glass balustrades can then be integrated into the structural glass assembly for a clear frameless safety barrier against the level drop. The structural glass balustrades can easily be integrated and fixed to whatever supporting method has been opted for, as always, to create a neat modern appearance.

Minimal drainage can be integrated into supporting steel sections on external glass balconies if necessary. IQ’s flush threshold drain can take a high enough water volume that the balcony may be able to be drained back toward the building, meeting the flush threshold drain before any opening doors.

Juliete Balconies

If a cantilevered balcony is not desired IQ can help create impressively minimal Juliete balconies by integrating frameless glass balustrades into our minimal door systems.

The frameless balustrade can be minimally integrated into the base track of our slim framed sliding glass doors to create the appearance that this safety balustrade isn’t even there. The structural glass support seems invisible when the slim framed doors are closed but when open acts as a robust safety barrier.

For other opening door system, such as bi-folding doors or casement doors, we can integrate a balustrade either on the internal floor structure or connected to the external wall structure for a minimal and frameless Juliette balcony design.

Get in touch with the team at IQ Glass here.

Specification

Glass Specification

To create a fully glazed balcony IQ Glass can install a glass floor and glass balustrades onto the balcony.

The glass specification for a glass floor is 3x10mm toughened outer with an argon-filled cavity and a 2x6mm toughened laminated inner with a low e coating. Anti-slip finishes are recommended for a glazed floor on a balcony to reduce injury, this can be done by using a sandblasted finish or a ceramic frit pattern.

Structural silicone joints can be used to connect multiple glass panels within a glass floor and 4x10mm toughened laminated glass beams can be integrated to support glass joints of over 1.3m. Steel T or Box sections can also be integrated into the design to support glass joints of over 1.3m.

The glass specification for a frameless glass balustrade is 10mm x 2mm toughened laminated glass with a 1.5mm interlayer. A typical height for a glass balustrade is 1.1m but higher options are available if the project requires higher balustrades. The maximum length of a glazed panel for a balustrade is 6m.