An increasingly popular design choice is the modern glass balcony, which replaces traditional railings or opaque balustrades with glass panels and metal fittings.
Whether it’s an exterior platform or a Juliet balcony fixed across an opening, using glass will improve light flow and offer unobscured views while still providing a secure barrier.
Considering glass is widely known to be a fragile material, it’s understandable that people might be concerned about the safety of a glass balcony at first glance. However, there’s nothing to worry about, as structural glass is very different to the everyday kind.
Here’s a quick guide to the types of glass used for balconies to reassure you of their durability!
Is balcony glass laminated or toughened?
Structural features tend to use toughened glass for safety, which is several times stronger than standard float glass. A glass panel that has been tempered by rapid heating and cooling will be much more resistant to impacts and temperatures, as well as being waterproof.
If toughened glass does break from a forceful impact, it will shatter into blunt-edged pieces, reducing the risk of injuries. However, this means the balcony must have sufficient metal framing for a barrier to remain without the glass, as there is still the risk of falling from a height.
This is why laminated glass is often the preferred choice – specifically, toughened laminated glass. The lamination process involves sealing two sheets of toughened glass together with a transparent plastic interlayer, forming a single thick panel that’s even stronger.
If either side cracks, or even if both panes of glass break, the middle layer will hold the pieces in place. This means that while the barrier will be weakened, it will remain intact, preventing falls and maintaining the balcony until the glass can be replaced and restored to full strength.
How thick does balcony glass need to be?
The thickness of a glass balcony balustrade will depend on factors such as the location and dimensions of the area it needs to protect, the distance to the ground, the line load required, and the design – including the framing system and fixings and the size of individual panels.
Typically, the minimum thickness of toughened glass allowed is 10mm for a framed balustrade, but thicker glass is likely to be necessary for a balcony than for a lower-level barrier.
If you would prefer the streamlined look of a frameless glass balcony with minimal fittings, you would need to use toughened laminated glass to ensure that if the balustrade should break, it won’t leave an empty space and put people at risk of falling from a height.
The most important thing is to comply with the legal requirements set out by UK building regulations for your specific installation type, which you can check by consulting your local building control office or the online Planning Portal.
Once you have a safe and compliant design, you can order the glass balcony materials you need in your desired dimensions and finishes from a trusted supplier like The Glass Warehouse.
Here, you’ll find both toughened glass balcony balustrades and toughened laminated glass balconies in various thicknesses, so you can order the right type of glass for your balcony.