Balustrade
16/10/2009
This
what quality balustrade looks like.
Note
the perfect reflection which shows the toughening process does not have to
distort the glass.
This
is an almost finished (October 2009) Davey Constructions home in
It
clearly shows the difference between quality glass made to suit the project and
cheap imports with posts every metre or so.
The
glass is 10mm grey toughened safety glass on stainless steel standoffs with a
minimal capping rail.
The
glass is totally self supporting so if the patio was less than a metre off the
ground, no rail would be required.
___________
Commercial
work in progress March 2009 "Solarus" Palmer St
Townsville.
Preparing
the balustrade for glass installation.
Pilkington
Blue toughened glass in powder coated aluminium rated for cyclonic conditions.
Fitted
to all but one bay, top "finish" rail will be fitted after all the
other trades have completed their works.
For
this job the architect opted for an eliptical top and bottom rail.
Main
facts
Width
of panels is limited by a combination of the wind load and the practical glass
thickness.
In
high rise buildings for example, a maximum width of 1200mm is normal, but with
the correct post design 6mm toughened glass can be adequate for the wind load.
To
increase the distance between posts, not only do we need to upgrade the post
size and wall thickness, the glass thickness would also need to be upsized.
For
most residential use, normal posts either round or square in either aluminium
or stainless are available.
Top
rails are required where the drop from the balcony is greater than 1 metre.
Methods
of construction generally are fully welded frame or assembled frame.
Glass
fitting can be fully bonded, standard 4-side glazing, 3-side glazing, 2-sided
post-only glazing, top and bottom glazing and face fit glazing.
These photos are examples of a fully welded aluminium
top rail in a low profile 25mm high and 100mm deep. There is less interuption
to the view with the low profile as you can see by looking at the end of the
balcony.
The
rail is only a thin black line and even when seated, this is the minimum
detraction from an uninterupted view.
Matching
a pool fence to a balustrade.
This
project has a strong design aspect in that the pool fence and the balustrade
had to match if the building facade was not going to be compromised.
The
balustrade and the pool fence are entirely different in construction and the
challenge is to make them look complimentary.
The
pool fence (using standard panels) is more than 200 millimetres higher than the
custom made balustrade panels, but they match so well, they have a very similar
appearance. Our client was very happy with the result.
The
other issue for balustrade is the profile of the rail. Most balustrade systems
use round posts and rails, which sometimes provide a cheaper solution.
Unfortunately,
the rail is usually at eye level when seated and this can be quite an
irritation as a view spoiler.
We
have addressed the problem by designing our own system that has a low profile,
flat rail as illustrated above.
Even
when seated, this has a minimal impact on the view.
_____________________________
This is a typical lightweight aluminium balustrade suitable for low rise residential and generally lower wind loads in medium rise residential.
We quote
on any type of balustrade that has a strong glass component. Solving
engineering problems is part of our service and this means we can install on
buildings in the highest wind load situation.
|
Contact us: dan@austinglass.com.au |
|
Ph
(Australia) +617 4725 4444 Fax
+617 4779 1234 PO Box
5278 Townsville 4810 Pilkington and Mackley Sts Townsville |
