Balustrades

Glass balcony systems are now hugely popular! What is all the fuss about? What is wrong with traditional wrought iron railings?

Glass balcony systems put Balcony Systems on the map! In the following Q & A Mr. Effi Wolff Managing Director of Balcony Systems Solutions Limited gives some insight into current trends of glass balustrades and balconies why Balcony Systems’ proprietary system ticks all the right boxes.

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Designing balustrades to meet wind load requirements is a crucial part of our job. Now, in BS6180:2011 it is required that wind loads are included when designing balustrades.

Where to Find the Relevant Data

There are various factors to take into account when designing for wind loads. In essence, this is covered in a Euro code BS EN 1991-1-4:2005 Actions on structures – Wind actions, its addendum and annex cover what you need to know.

The Euro code 1 itself is a highly scientific and theoretical document of 145 pages and an additional 42 pages in the UK National Annex, giving a total of 187 pages.

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Fixing Beneath FFL (finished floor level) to the Structure

The height of any finished external balustrade or railing needs to be a minimum of 1100mm above the finished floor level, or above where one can stand. This is according to BS6180:2011 – Barriers in and about buildings code of practice.

Not always is fixing balustrades a simple matter. This is because usually the finished floor level does not have a structural member to fit to. Structural members are often imbedded below the floor level, under insulation, screed, waterproofing etc.

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Let’s have a look at what happened at the Grenfell Tower that made it such a disaster.

What About the Paper Work?

Well, people or I should say company’s installed cladding and insulation and other components such as fire doors, all of which had pieces of paper to say that they were compliant and met all building regulations etc., etc.

But in reality, when it actually came to the real test, we all saw what happened, it went up like a box of matches.

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Designing Balustrading – 3 Loads You Must Be Aware Of

There are three primary loads to consider when designing glass balustrading to BS6180, which is the code that regulates barriers (Balustrades and Railings).

In this code it specifies the loads for different usages relating to building types or occupancies of buildings.

Although the different occupancy types will specify different loads, for instance in a public environment the load will be higher than for a private residential occupancy, in each occupancy there will always be three loads types that have to be met.

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Oh, we Brits do like to be beside the seaside. And with an estimated 19½ thousand miles of coastline, our collection of small islands blesses us with opportunities to live on or visit the coast. Properties by the sea are a delight, especially if you have a balcony or protected decking from which to enjoy the views and fresh sea air. Glass balconies and balustrades are well-suited to the wet and wild weather so often experienced by the sea. Sitting behind the shelter of a strong glass panel, you can enjoy a breath of fresh air on all but the stormiest day.

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Post-less balconies

Our balcony system balustrades ae unique in the fact that this is the only system around that can enable postless balconies without using structural glass. Utilising the strength of the handrail the systems can span as much as 4.0m without posts. In theory you can have an endless run of balcony without posts if you do not surpass the maximum lenths the handrail can span and fix them to the walls.

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Harsh Environments

We know that our systems are well known for their suitability to harsh environments. It is for this reason we must make sure that the colours and options we offer you the customer must be fully suited to stand up to the harshest of conditions and do what we say they do on the tin.

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Balustrade installation left to the last moment is not a good idea!

We get some customers coming to us after all, or the majority, of their building work is almost finished wanting to order and install a balustrade. In these cases usually the walls are finished and the waterproofing has already been applied. The repeated request in these cases is “I want to install the balustrade but not fix through the waterproofing” or “We can’t fix to the floor…”.

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Glass fencing is getting more and more popular, probably due to our warmer summers and the growing popularity of pools.

Fencing made of glass, is another application for the glass balustrade that is being used more and more in new builds as well as renovation projects. A glass fence is made of toughened glass that is held at the base and often also with a handrail around the top of the balustrade glass.

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