The Fundamental Difference: Direct Sun Versus Diffuse Daylight North- and south-facing windows can use exactly the same glass and still create very different conditions inside a home. The reason begins with the path of the sun. In the UK, the sun travels predominantly across the southern part of the sky. A south-facing elevation therefore has […]
Tag Archives: self-build glazing
20
Aug
Aug
What Is Actually Between the Panes of Double and Triple Glazing? Look closely at a modern double-glazed window and the space between the panes can appear to contain nothing at all. But that apparently empty space is an important part of the glazing specification. Double glazing uses two panes of glass separated by a controlled […]
20
Aug
Aug
What Is the Spacer Inside Double or Triple Glazing? Look closely at the perimeter of a double-glazed unit and you will usually see a narrow strip running between the panes. That component is the spacer. Its most obvious job is contained in its name: it maintains a controlled distance between the individual panes of glass, […]
19
Aug
Aug
What Is Acoustic Laminated Glass? Acoustic laminated glass is designed to reduce the transmission of sound through glazing more effectively than a conventional glass construction selected without a specific acoustic objective. Like other laminated glass, it consists of two or more glass plies bonded together with an interlayer. In an acoustic laminate, a specialist interlayer […]
19
Aug
Aug
What Do We Actually Mean by Switchable Glass? “Privacy glass” can describe several very different products, so the terminology needs to be understood before deciding whether any of them are appropriate for a home. At its simplest, privacy glass can mean conventional glass that is permanently obscured. Frosted, etched or patterned glass allows light through […]
19
Aug
Aug
How Self-Cleaning Glass Actually Works The name “self-cleaning glass” can make the technology sound more dramatic than it really is. The glass does not actively clean itself, and there is no hidden mechanism removing dirt from the surface. Instead, a specialist coating changes the way certain deposits and water behave on the external face of […]
19
Aug
Aug
What Is Ultra-Clear Glass? Ultra-clear glass is designed to provide greater visual clarity and colour neutrality than conventional clear glass. The difference comes primarily from the raw material itself: ultra-clear glass is manufactured with a lower iron content, reducing the characteristic green cast naturally present in standard clear glass. That distinction is important because “clear” […]
18
Aug
Aug
What Solar Control Glass Actually Does Solar control glass is designed to reduce the amount of solar energy passing through the glazing and contributing to heat inside the building. That becomes particularly relevant where architecture uses large areas of glass to bring in daylight, open up views and create a stronger connection with the landscape. […]
18
Aug
Aug
Where the Green Colour in Glass Comes From Glass is transparent, but that does not mean it is completely colourless. Standard clear architectural glass naturally has a subtle green appearance, and the main reason is the small amount of iron present within the raw materials used to manufacture it. For most conventional windows, this colour […]
18
Aug
Aug
The Fundamental Difference: What Happens When the Glass Breaks? The clearest way to understand the difference between toughened and laminated glass is not simply to ask which one is stronger. It is to ask a more useful question: what happens if the glass actually breaks? Toughened glass has undergone a controlled heat-treatment process that changes […]
18
Aug
Aug
What Is a Low-E Coating? Low-E stands for low emissivity. In practical terms, a low-E coating is an extremely thin engineered layer incorporated into the glazing to help reduce the transfer of radiant heat through the glass. It can have a significant influence on thermal performance while remaining visually subtle within the finished window or […]
13
Aug
Aug
The Problem Usually Starts With a Good Idea Rooflight overheating rarely begins with an obviously unreasonable design decision. More often, it begins with something entirely desirable: a brighter interior, a stronger connection with the sky and more daylight reaching parts of a home that conventional windows cannot easily serve. Consider a typical contemporary extension. Large […]
13
Aug
Aug
A “Flat” Rooflight Still Has to Manage Water The word flat can create a misleading impression when discussing rooflights. Architecturally, a flat rooflight may appear as a simple sheet of glass sitting almost effortlessly within the roof. Rainwater, however, still needs somewhere to go. The visual simplicity of the finished glazing does not remove the […]
13
Aug
Aug
Daylight From Above Behaves Differently Daylight entering through a roof does not behave in quite the same way as daylight entering through a wall. A conventional window creates an outward relationship, connecting the interior with a garden, street or landscape beyond. Its view is predominantly towards the horizon. A rooflight turns that relationship upwards, introducing […]
13
Aug
Aug
Rooflights and Roof Lanterns Create Different Kinds of Space Rooflights and roof lanterns are often discussed as alternative ways of achieving the same objective: bringing more daylight into a room from above. Yet their architectural effect can be markedly different. The distinction is not simply one of appearance on the roof. Each changes the relationship […]
12
Aug
Aug
Why There Is No Single Maximum Glass Size The question of how large a single pane of glass can be appears to invite a simple answer: a maximum width, a maximum height, perhaps a maximum overall area. In architectural glazing, however, those dimensions rarely exist as universal limits. The realistic size of a pane emerges […]
11
Aug
Aug
Why Slimmer Does Not Automatically Mean Colder It is easy to assume that making a glazing frame slimmer must come at the expense of thermal performance. The reasoning appears intuitive: if there is less visible frame around the glass, there must surely be less material available to resist heat transfer. In practice, however, sightline and […]
11
Aug
Aug
Why Sightline Is an Aesthetic Metric, Not a Performance Rating Sightline dimensions are useful because they describe something immediately visible. When two glazed panels meet, the width of the framing between them contributes directly to the character of the elevation, and it is understandable that architects and homeowners use this measurement when comparing minimal glazing […]
11
Aug
Aug
Why There Is No Single Minimum Sightline At first glance, asking how slim a glazing sightline can be seems as though it should have a straightforward numerical answer. Contemporary glazing systems are often discussed in terms of increasingly narrow profiles, making it natural to compare one dimension with another. The difficulty is that a sightline […]
11
Aug
Aug
Why Architects Pursue Slimmer Sightlines The appeal of slim sightlines is easy to understand. In contemporary architecture, glazing is often intended to do more than bring daylight into a room; it is used to establish a visual relationship between the interior, the landscape and the wider setting of the building. As glazed openings become larger, […]
10
Aug
Aug
Walk-On Glass Is a Structural Element, Not a Window Underfoot Walk-on glass has an unusual ability to challenge our expectations of a building. Floors are normally understood as solid, substantial surfaces, yet structural glass can replace part of that solidity with transparency, allowing daylight and views to pass between spaces that would otherwise remain visually […]
10
Aug
Aug
Start With the Architecture, Not the Glass The idea of a glass box extension is immediately appealing. Expansive transparent walls, uninterrupted views and a seamless connection with the garden can transform the character of a home, particularly when a contemporary addition is placed alongside an older or more traditional building. It is therefore understandable that […]
05
Aug
Aug
Architectural Glazing Is About Priorities, Not Unlimited Budgets One of the most persistent misconceptions surrounding architectural glazing is that it belongs exclusively to exceptional homes with exceptional budgets. Contemporary architecture is often presented through dramatic photography featuring vast walls of glass, expansive sliding doors and ambitious structural engineering, creating the impression that architectural glazing is […]
03
Aug
Aug
You Experience Products, Not Just Pictures Most homeowners begin their glazing journey online. They browse manufacturer websites, compare brochures, save inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram, and read articles about different window systems before speaking to a supplier. This research is an important first step, but architects understand that it can only take a project so […]
- 1
- 2