Glass Floors by Invisio®

IQ Glass design and install complex structural walk on glass floors and walk on glass rooflights to nearly any size, internally or externally

Specification

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Frameless walk-on Glass Floors

Where light or vision is required to pass between two layers of a building IQ Glass can design and install horizontal structural glass to create frameless structural glass floors. These highly durable walk on glass surfaces are manufactured using the highest specifications of glazing to ensure a light and clear glass surface.

As a structural glass installation IQ Glass will design all fixing and support details to suit the specific project or space. Our Invisio Structural Glass Fixing System is fully thermally broken, creating structural glass floorlights with high levels of thermal performance. 

These transparent floor pieces can be installed as one panel or for larger installation minimal steel sections or frameless glass beams can be used to support any glass joints as necessary.

Glass Floor Design

Low Iron Glass is always recommended due to the thick layers of glass generally needed to create the structural support to the walk on glass floor.

Anti-slip resistance can be applied to the surface of a walk on structural glass floor for added safety, especially to external glass floors. There are numerous ways to do this. IQ can apply a sandblasted finish to the external surface of the glass floor to create a rougher external surface. The glass is then finished translucent for ample light transmission through the structural glass unit whilst providing privacy and anti-slip resistance.

Alternative anti-slip resistance can be applied to the glass floor to allow vision through the glass panels whilst providing anti-slip. These include specialised ceramic inks applied to the surface of the glass in various patterns or indented patterns applied to the glass surface.

Glass Floors at the Showroom

Our newly renovated showroom includes a wide variety of architectural glazing solutions including a structural glass box that is cantilevered off of a mezzanine floor level creating a floating glass meeting room. 

This glass box is complete with a structural glass floor that is held with structural silicone and can hold the weight of up to 8 people comfortably. 

Structural glass floors can be incorporated into almost any space as long as the surrounding structure is considered. This allows the home to have windows between the floors, connected basements and garden spaces and helps to maximise natural light whilst providing a functional structural glass element. 

The glass floors installed within Sky House offer a variety of design and slip resistant options. We also have various hand samples showcasing many other finishing options available.

With both internal and external glass floors, you will be able to see exactly how a structural glass floor withstands with time.

Book your showroom visit today so you can walk out to the edge of the glass box and allow the structural glass floor to make you feel as though you're floating. 

Specification

Technical Details

Walk-on glass floors can be used for internal or external applications.

On areas where thermal insulation is required, we will use our Invisio thermally broken fixing details. This fixing design will differ from project to project. these will be designed and detailed by our in-house design team once IQ are appointed to the project.

You can however download our typical CAD details for the Invisio Structural Glazing System here.

Internal walk-on glass floors can be created using the same fixing section or a more bespoke steel angle system.

Glass Specification for Glass Floors

The required glass specification for your glass floor will depend on the size, span, expected pedestrian load and performance requirements.

The top layer of glazing will be made up of multiple panes of glass laminated together. This creates a structural glass panel strong enough to take the required pedestrian load.

If insulated glass is required spacer bars and inner panes of glass are included within the unit.

Anti-slip finishes are recommended to the outer surface of any walk on glass structure. there are various options available for your slip resistant finish. The team at IQ will be able to help advise you on the best finish for your application.

Please note that fire rated glass floors are possible but are a specialist requirement. Visit our Fire Rated Glass Floors page for more information about this specialised product.

Loading Requirements for Glass Floors

The loadings required for a structural glass floor are denoted by the Uniformly Distributed Load (UDL) and the Concentrated Load.

We take instruction from the architect or structural engineer on the project as to the required loading for the walk-on glass floors on the project. The responsibility for determining the loadings required for the glass floors in the project belongs to the specifiers.

The specifier on the project will refer to ‘BS EN 1991-1-1:2002, Eurocode 1: Actions on structures’ as well as ‘the UK National Annex to Eurocode 1 (NA to BS EN 1991-1-1-1:2002)’ to determine the loading requirement for the glass floors required.

As an example, the architect on the luxury house build we are working on will refer to the requirements for their project and tell us what loading we need to design the glass floors to. IQ will then alter our glass specifications and fixing details to suit the required walk on loading for the glass floor.

Our typical glass specifications are based on typical loading requirements based on our extensive experience in creating walk on glass structures. For example;

A residential or domestic application would typically have a UDL from 1.5 kN/m2 with a concentrated load from 2.0kN.

A commercial project may have a UDL from 4.0 kN/m2 and a concentrated load from 3.6 kN.

Heavy duty commercial spaces or public areas would typically have a UDL that started at 5.0 kN/m2 and a concentrated load from 4.5 kN.

Please note that these loading requirements must be provided to IQ in order for us to provide suitable glass floor structures.