Laminated Glass: The Perfect Choice for Commercial Glazing
Choosing the best commercial glazing solution for your business premises is crucial to making it safe, secure, thermally efficient and aesthetically pleasing.
Your systems need to be robust, durable and ready to stand the test of heavy footfall. They also need to meet the requirements for disabled access, fire escapes and controlled access and exit.
As you choose the best window system for your property, it’s important to ensure your glazing is not an afterthought.
Commercial buildings are often comprised of larger glass panels or curtain wall systems that allow for a lot of natural light, in shopping centres, restaurants, vehicle showrooms and so on.
With more glass comes more UV radiation, so it is important to consider adding something like laminated glass to your project.
Table of Contents
Where can Laminated Glass be used?
What are the benefits of Laminated Glass?
What are the negatives of Laminated Glass?
How does Laminated Glass prevent interior furniture from fading?
What is Laminated Glass?
Laminated glass is two or more panes of glass that have been bonded together to form a single sheet. The two panes of glass are held together by an interlayer of resin.
This enables the glass to hold together in the event of a breakage. This makes it a highly secure and safe choice for commercial properties.
Where can Laminated Glass be used?
Laminated glass can be used in various property styles and settings from commercial buildings to residential homes.
Homeowners are increasingly aware of the benefits of laminated glass as they seek to provide further protection to their home furnishings.
Laminated glass is equally prevalent throughout the commercial sector. It can benefit buildings that feature high volumes of glass and become susceptible to sun damage.
It can also be utilised across different systems, including windows, curtain walling, balustrades, doors and more.
What are the benefits of Laminated Glass?
Enhanced Safety
Because the two layers of glass are held together by the interlayer of resin, in the event of any shattering of any scale, there is a significantly reduced risk of injury from loose shards.
Protect interior materials and surfaces
Laminated glass is designed to absorb UV radiation through the interlayer section between the two panes of glass.
UV radiation is a big contributing factor to your interior materials and surfaces such as carpets, worktops or furniture fading from direct sunlight.
This can be particularly pertinent to commercial properties like showrooms with seating areas or museums with artwork on display.
Thermal Performance
Laminated glass can reduce the heat gained from the increase in natural light shining through your building.
Larger-scale architectural glazing features that are often common within commercial premises can be at risk of overheating if they are not installed with suitable glass.
Acoustic Performance
Laminated glass can absorb sound energy within a building to deliver improved acoustic performance versus traditional glass types.
The thickness of the glass and the interlayer act as both insulation to improve thermal performance, but also enhances its acoustic performance, too.
What are the negatives of Laminated Glass?
Expense
Laminated glass can be one of the more premium glass choices on the market, as a result of its additional performance.
However, with that investment, you will enjoy improved performance from your glass and protect the investment you have made in interior furnishes too.
Difficult to break
One of the major benefits of laminated glass is that it is designed with security in mind.
Naturally, this means it can be difficult to break in the event of an emergency. This may be something you will need to factor into the design of your commercial space.
How does Laminated Glass prevent interior furniture from fading?
The interlayer of laminated glass absorbs the UV transmittance from natural daylight.
Direct sunlight contains the highest levels of UV radiation of any light source. UV radiation is also emitted by artificial light sources but on a much smaller scale.
Over time, this can harm the visual appearance of your furnishings. This is a process known as photodegradation.
It is the result of the chemical bonds that make up your furniture’s colour breaking down over time.
A report from Pilkington highlights the difference in UV transmittance between clear, tinted and laminated glass.
| Glass | UV transmittance (%) |
| 6 mm clear glass | 62 |
| 6 mm blue tinted glass | 18 |
| 6.4 mm clear laminated glass | 3 |
| 6.8 mm clear laminated glass | 1 |
| 7.5 mm clear laminated glass | 0 |
Enquire today for more information
Exeter Trade Aluminium manufactures and supplies commercial glazing solutions across the South West.
We offer a selection of profiles, ranging from pivot doors to hinged or sliding doors.
They are beaded internally for additional security and have the option of included insulation depending on your location.
Choose from an extensive range of hardware and accessories to create the perfect commercial door for your project.
For more information on our systems and glazing options, contact our team at sales@exetertradealuminium.co.uk, or call us on 01392 537070.
