Shop
fronts
(General information that may be helpful in planning a
new shop front.)

The
current trend in shop fronts is to minimize the framework and maximize the
glass.
A frameless
shop front with large expanses of glass maximizes exposure and attracts the
best rent.
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Common
questions.
What
is the cost difference between frameless and aluminium framed?
This is probably the most asked question of
all and the answer is not very complicated. Generally framed glass is cheaper,
but not by a lot.
The reason is that framed is more labour
intensive and frameless has more expensive material.
In the end, most new shop fronts are
frameless because the tenants will pay more for the space and even in the short
term, the small price difference is soon taken up.
The most expensive component is the door and
many owners compromise here and use a framed door with the rest frameless. In
some cases, this does not detract from the overall appearance and so, can be a
good decision.
In other cases, like the lead photo at the
top of the page, framed doors would be a disaster.

This example is used as an internal partition
but works equally well as a shop front, especially for smaller tenancies. The
approximate cost for this is $4000 with a concealed closer.
What is
the effect of the Building Code of
The primary concerns are wind load and safety
glazing. The safety aspect for human impact remains the same. This is normally
addressed by using standard laminated or toughened glass.
There can be many ways to provide the
necessary wind load component, from no requirement in a shopping centre to a
high need facing the

By far the most common choice is full height
glass fins in preference to having an aluminium post every metre and a half.

In this example is frameless glass with
frameless doors, note the stainless rail on the bottom of each door is holding
the floor lock. The rial can be replaced with a stainless patch fitting if
required.
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For one-on-one discussion ask for Justin
Hughes, our most experienced designer and fitter.
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