Using Glass in Staircases and Balustrades: Types, Production Technologies and Special Features
Nowadays, glazing is used in various spheres of life, including the production of mass structures. Most of the skyscrapers are built using thick tempered glass. Another popular trend is staircases with glass elements. This way, it is possible to create a staircase that will fully meet the aesthetic and functional aspects.
However, when choosing materials, many homeowners are often shocked by the vast selection of glass types. If you want to know which type of glass to choose to create the perfect staircase, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ve put together a short guide to glass and technology for you.
Several Reasons to Choose Glass
As practice and our experience shows, glass is often used in helical and floating staircases. Customers choose this material for its many advantages, including:
- Aesthetics. Obviously, the main perk of glass staircases is how attractive they look. Moreover, glass elements make the room visually more spacious and lighter.
- Durability. Despite popular opinion, glass is a durable material for balustrades and staircases. Why is it so? Some glass production technologies allow it to withstand loads of up to 200kg.
- Easy to maintain. You only need to have cloth wipes and cleaning fluid to keep your glass staircase clean. We talked more about staircase care in our article.
These are just a few reasons why glass deserves your attention when planning a staircase project. In the V.P Stairs portfolio you can find many successfully completed projects using glass.
What Types of Glass are Used for Staircases?
You can often find glass in different parts of a staircase, including handrails, steps or balustrades. Also, staircases can be of different shapes, have different purposes and mediums, so there are several types and technologies for creating glass on the market. Let us tell you more about them!
Tempered Glass
This glass is heat treated at temperatures of up to 680 degrees Celsius. This makes the glass strong enough to support several people on the stairs at the same time. When broken, the material breaks into small, safe shards with blunt edges, reducing the risk of injury.
Laminated Glass
This type of glass is also often referred to as triplex and consists of several layers of strong glass at the same time. Even in the event of strong impacts, it does not crumble but remains in the frame, minimising the risk of injury. In addition, laminated glass has excellent noise reduction properties.
Smart Glass
Another innovative type of glazing that can be used for balustrades is smart glass. Its main feature is the ability to switch between two states – clear and darkened.
Other Solutions in Staircase Projects
Sometimes clients want to diversify their room interior with an unusual and exciting staircase and V.P Stairs specialists help to realise any ideas. This is why frosted and even tinted glass can be used in such projects. These types of glass are usually popular with commercial properties including clinics, shops, salons and more.
Lighting & Glass – What Should You Know?
Each staircase should have its own lighting system. Why? Sometimes there may not be enough lighting in the room at night, which also blinds a person a lot. Built-in staircase lighting allows you to see the stairs clearly and not blind your eyes.
A smart LED lighting system is often used in tandem with glass elements. For example, in some projects, ice ribbons can be embedded in glass balustrades, ensuring a smooth and excellent spread of light throughout the staircase.
V.P Stairs Technologies for Glass Staircases
As you may have realised by now, glazing is being used more and more these days for staircase projects. However, you don’t have to restrict yourself to this material. Glass can be perfectly combined with wooden materials in the same project. We use different types of durable glass in our projects, which has passed safety checks.
Are you looking for turnkey glass staircase solutions in the UK? We at V.P Stairs are well versed in combining aesthetics, safety and functionality in staircase projects. We look forward to your free consultation where our experienced experts will capture your wishes and vision. Let us make your dreams come true!
4 Comments
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Ella Hughes
Is it possible to create a full glass staircase? I mean using glass for steps, balustrades and other elements of the whole structure.
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vpstairs
It’s theoretically possible. However, we recommend combining tempered glass with other materials. In our portfolio you will find many completed projects to see successful combinations of glass and other materials in staircases.
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Edward Hughes
I love the examples where the glass balustrade almost disappears and you just see the line of the handrail and treads. It makes the whole staircase feel lighter, which is exactly what we need in our fairly dark hallway.
Mason Edwards
I was really interested in the smart glass option. This is probably the most expensive solution of all those described in this article.