Glass, which has remained as a decoration for centuries, is an extremely critical component today. Without glass, the building of fascinating landmarks like the Burj Khalifa or the Maraya Concert Hall would not have been possible.
That doesn’t sound too surprising when you consider what glass can do now. For example, features such as shock and impact resistance, thermal insulation, UV protection, temperature and sound control are all offered together with the unique beauty of glass. Why make only one wall when you can build a wall of glass?
Choosing the right glass for a building improves the building’s appearance and performance and also helps reduce energy costs for many years to come. Whether you need glass for facades, balustrades, doors, windows, partitions, mirrors or other building applications,
Curtain Walls
A curtain wall is the non-structural exterior cladding of a building. Since it is non-structural, it can be produced from light materials, thus reducing construction costs.
A curtain wall is the non-structural exterior cladding of a building is unlimited like the sky. Since it is non-structural, it can be produced from light materials, thus reducing construction costs.
The curtain wall glazing method allows the safe use of glass in large and continuous parts of a building, resulting in continuous and attractive facades. Various glass products available today are available to architects and designers; It gives the opportunity to control every element in terms of aesthetics and performance, including thermal and solar control, sound and safety, color, light and glare.
Curved Glazing
Curved glass, also referred to as bent glass, is heated above the softening point and curved by annealing by gravity or bending by heat treatment (tempered or semi-tempered).
How is curved glass made?
Curved glass, also referred to as bent glass, is heated above the softening point and curved by annealing by gravity or bending by heat treatment (tempered or semi-tempered). In the gravity bending method, the softened glass is placed in a mold and left to cool slowly after taking the desired shape.
Although the gravity bending method allows many different shapes to be obtained, it is very time consuming and the coating must withstand a longer heating period. In the bending method with heat treatment, immediately after the glass reaches the desired curved ratio, it is cooled very quickly to increase its durability. The difficulties brought by this method are to prevent visual disturbances during the production phase and to be limited to cylindrical and concave shapes in productions including coatings.
Curved glass; It offers more freedom to architects and designers to create aesthetically pleasing and beautifully curved glazed facades, where straight lines, corners and edges can be enhanced with slightly curved curves. These cambers can be in simple cylindrical shapes, but also in complex 3D free shapes.
Choosing a curved glass that still offers the thermal and solar performance required when bent is an accompanying challenge. One of the critical factors here is the coating that the glass must withstand during the bending process without detracting from its visual appeal.
Coated solar control glass range for commercial curved facades is among the highest performance bendable glass products available on the market. Glass coatings are designed to maintain high performance and aesthetic beauty while remaining durable during the bending process. By using coated glass products, it is possible to obtain a monolithic and homogeneous appearance on the curved and flat parts of a facade.
Regardless of the bending process used; they work with glass processors during the initial design phase, such as finding key parameters such as minimum bending diameter, testing and producing model samples. We offer worksite support to glassworkers during construction to minimize visual distortions such as roll wave, coating degradation or discoloration.
Glass Blinds
There is a growing trend around the world that has emerged from the desire for sun protection and better control of energy efficiency along with daylight throughout the building: using glass shutters and curtains in commercial buildings and shop windows.
Glass blinds and curtains for commercial buildings
The glass louver consists of parallel glass strips placed in the frame. Just like sun visors, louvers lock together onto a sled for the purpose of tilting and closing at the same time, controlling airflow and light penetration through the window. Glass louvers can be designed vertically or horizontally. The most common places where this product is seen are building fronts, restaurants or shop windows.
The main purpose of the blind is to create an outer layer for the canopy. Naturally, glass panels have the ability to move to control sunlight/shade. However, curtain structures are also available to provide partial glazing outside and inside. In blinds and curtain types, care should be taken about how to install and how to support.
Glass Spandrels
Spandrel glass; It is an opaque glass that hides structural building components such as pillars, floors, HVAC systems, voids, electrical wiring and plumbing and prevents them from appearing on the exterior of the building.
The beauty of a building’s fully glazed clear façade can be impaired in some cases by mismatched spandrel glass in color and reflections. Architect; may have to settle for a simpler solution instead of creating a striking, monolithic glass façade. While spandrel glass solutions exist that make spandrel glass compatible with vision glass, the cost can be a deterrent.
Why do we need spandrel glass?
Facade and structurally glazing designs often require the use of spandrel glass to capture the architect’s view of the finished project. Typically located between the vision glasses of floors in a building, spandrel glass can be used to complement or contrast in color to the appearance of the vision glass.
Difficulties in Spandrel Glass
Where architects want a glass-fronted building to appear monolithic, getting spandrel glass to match vision glass exactly in terms of color, reflection and durability can be a challenge. When vision glass is highlighted with high light transmittance or low external reflection, it is difficult to achieve an exact color match between spandrel and vision glass. Daylight conditions can be extremely influential in the perception of the vision-spandrel transition view. For example, a clear, bright sunny day provides a higher reflective view, which improves vision-spandrel transition compatibility. A cloudy and cloudy day can transmit more images from outside, creating greater contrast between vision and spandrel glass.
Spandrel Glass Solutions
The spandrel glass may consist of an opaque uncoated or coated glass, a coated glass in a shadow box structure, or it may be an insulating glass unit consisting of a solar control glass as the outer panel and an opaque uncoated inner panel.
- The most common spandrel glass solution consists of solid flat glass with surface 2 enamel applied (picture 1). Although this solution is relatively inexpensive, it is a problem that the color of the paint does not exactly match the color and reflection of the coating on the vision glass. This makes it almost impossible to obtain a monolithic view between the spandrel and the vision glass.
- An alternative is to use IGU (Insulated Glass Unit) spandrels, from which coated glass can be selected that exactly matches the aesthetics of the glazed façade (picture 2). Here, the coating is applied to the 2nd surface and the paint to the 4th surface. Although this type of solution has the advantage of achieving a good color match with the rest of the façade, its cost is high compared to monolithic flat glass solutions.
- A choice of HD (High Durable) or Solar reflective coated glass allows enamel to be applied directly to the coated surface for a solid spandrel (image 3). This provides an economical, cost-effective and aesthetically compatible solution suitable for many applications.
- Shadow box structure using monolithic High Durable coated glass (pic 4).
Protective glass coatings for monolithic spandrels
Many glass manufacturer offers the most durable coatings for monolithic spandrels, High Durable Glass or Solar Glass. They can pair very well with a variety of coated Sun Control Glass, including Neutral Glass, High Durable Glass, High Performance Glass.
Roofs and Skylights
Skylights; It can be safely used on the roof of a building to reduce the need for artificial light, provide a source of natural daylight, while simultaneously meeting solar and thermal insulation requirements.
Architects and designers need to consider relevant international and/or local glazing standards for roof glazing. They offer guidance on the maximum allowable deflection and overhead glazing stresses, making them suitable for a variety of building types, often at different load levels. Therefore, the thickness of the glass and the integrity of the insulating glass unit must be considered. The Guardian Glass team and supplier partners are ready to help you take care of these issues.
The glass support system must be at a sufficient level so that there is no deterioration under load. Unlike vertical glazing, snowfall, maintenance, water and constant load (its own weight to which the glass is permanently exposed) must be taken into account in this type of glazing. If the glass ceiling can be used as an accessible area, this part should be seen as a glass floor. Although toughened glass is sufficient for some skylight applications, laminated safety glass is often recommended for such applications.