Outward or inward curving, Balconette’s Curvaglide® range of curved glass sliding doors add the instant ‘Wow’ factor to any property. Suitable for installation in existing buildings or included in new homes or extensions, they are as practical as they are beautiful.
When your home enjoys stunning views along the Jurassic coastline, enhanced by the sweeping curves and clear glass of Balconette’s balustrading system, it’s clear there are few better places for peace and relaxation than a gorgeous balcony.
Specialists Balconette supplied and fitted their Orbit balustrade on eight luxury apartments in this award-winning, five-storey development on Seaton seafront in East Devon. Echoing the curves of Lyme Bay, the sinuous balconies make a dramatic visual statement on the prominently positioned building.
Far-reaching countryside vistas don’t come much better than this. That’s why Steve Procter installed glass balconies and frameless balustrading from Balconette to keep the views from his elevated Yorkshire home.
Imagine this – you have just designed a beautiful curved patio opening to the garden but you are told it needs to be made from ten small panels and you must have nine vertical mullions. Really? Compromise no more – Curved openings no longer need to be segmented into little straight parts, much like a fifty pence piece instead of curving the elements.
Visitors to a new £20 million cliff-face extension at the Tate St Ives art gallery in Cornwall are brought closer to the Atlantic Ocean through an impressive curved sliding glass door.
The brief from the architect was to maximise the sea views and form a curved on plan door for the hemispherical domed Clore ’sky-studio’, which opens out onto a terrace and seating area.
Since time immemorial, curved elements in buildings have been used to create superior aesthetics. These curved elements not only carry an inherent strength but are also pleasing to the eye. Curved balconies, curved top windows and doors, curved walls, domes, ellipses and spiral stairs are just some of the elements used by architects to enhance the building they are designing. It is interesting to note that in the modern age, where budget and cost are many times a main driver in design and chosen solutions, that these curved elements are often discarded or ruined by introduction of “facetted” curves rather than good old “round” curves. With the industrialisation of the building industry, many companies have become proficient in producing quantities of standard “flat” elements including glass. These industries cannot cope with curved elements and when curved glass and other elements are introduced this creates a “hiccup” in the system as these cannot be industrially done.
As with all journeys there’s a simple order in which things need to happen to ensure you end up smiling – enjoying and having friends and family say “WOW”, when it’s all finished. There’s a saying that is used by some trades people “measure twice and cut once” which could be applied to this journey, which is make sure you’ve had all your questions answered at each step before moving to the next step.
Whether you’re installing a Juliet balcony, which can be fitted as soon as it arrives, or a balustrade for a balcony, which has yet to be built, being able to plan when various parts arrive is important.
Here is an outline of what you can expect, although a more accurate time can be provided at the point of order.
Due to the fact that many of our systems are installed without the use of posts, we get asked if the Balconette system is a structural glass balustrade. The answer is no. It’s a hybrid system. A Structural glass balustrade means that the glass itself acts as the structure, and resists outward forces by being cantilevered from the ground.
We get asked are the handrails made of stainless steel? The answer is no, they are made from something better than stainless steel. They are made from anodised aluminium. Stainless steel is correctly named in that it stains less, but anodised aluminium is actually more corrosion-resistant, and that’s why we use it.
