Category: Glass Tips

Why you should switch to glass frameless balustrades or handrails

Glass balustrades or handrails are more than just a safety feature, they are the stylish, durable and robust safety alternative that can turn any commercial or domestic space from mediocre to show-stopping.
Used on landings, staircases, balconies, mezzanine floors, high walkways and patios, there are a multitude of ways to incorporate glass balustrades or handrails into your interiors, so what is stopping you?

Here are the top five reasons why you should switch to glass balustrades or handrails today.

1. Enhances Style of Building glass

Used correctly, glass balustrades or handrails can enhance the style of your building to achieve an unforgettable ‘wow’ factor. Glass.com.ng allows you to create a personalised modern space with a mix of decorative glass combined with different railing options, producing a structure unique to you. Using glass for your balustrades allows you to enhance the views of both your outdoor and indoor space whilst allowing natural and ambient light to reach all areas in your building.

2. Safety

To ensure extra security, the glass material used for glass balustrades is thick, toughened safety glass which is difficult to break and does not shatter, permitting the balustrades to withstand just about any conditions. To add extra security to your space, you can also fix extra railings to the balustrades, both on the interior and exterior as required.

3. Easily Maintained
Few materials clean as easily as glass – with a simple wipe with a cloth, any traces of smudges or grime can be removed. The flat and glossy surface of laminated glass also allows glass balustrades to remain dust free for long periods of time. Dents and scratches are also issues most building materials are vulnerable to, but as glass is abrasion-resistant, it can much more easily withstand surface wear and tear, therefore making it the ideal balustrade material.

4. Eco-Friendly
Glass is 100% recyclable and one of few materials that does not degrade during the recycling process, allowing it to be recycled multiple times without any loss of quality. Choosing glass balustrades not only offers visual appeal but can boost your company’s environmental impact.

5. Cost-Effective
Versatility and strength makes glass one of the best structural items to use. Glass can be moulded into several different shapes, and unlike materials such as wood, glass will not discolour, rot or deform, making it an overall longer-lasting product. Glass balustrades are a good investment for your building as glass will look as good as new for years to come.

As a leading Nigeria’s commercial supplier, Glass.com.ng have the skills and knowledge in-house to be able to provide you with exactly the right materials for your project. So, if you would like to find out further about glass balustrades and how you can install them safely, please do get in touch. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your ideas with you and work out the best route forward for your particular project.

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TOP 10 GLASS BUILDINGS WORLDWIDE

Glass buildings are increasingly becoming the heart of modern architecture with some of the beautiful structures in the world. Each glass structure is unique and display some functional work of art. These glass structures are part of what inspires Glass.com.ng to create the perfect glass product for installation.
Quite a few glass buildings have taken birth over the years, displaying breathtaking beauty and outstanding innovation. Here is a list of Top 10 amazing glass buildings in the world.

1. National Grand Theatre:

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The National Grand Theater of China is located in Beijing, China, close to Tiananmen Square. NGT of China is completely made  of glass and titanium and surrounded by an artificial lake to resemble a dome like shape. The structure stands in a man-made island and hosts an opera house, concert hall, shopping district and more.
This truly is an architectural masterpiece!

2.  Dancing House, Prague:

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The curved glass building is supposed to represent famous dancers, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, dancing. A stark contrast to the more historical, traditional architecture in Prague.

3. Farnsworth House, Chicago

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Known by many as the ‘famous glass house in the woods’, the extensive use of clear glass makes this house appear almost transparent.

4. Louvre Pyramid, Paris

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Probably one of the most famous and well recognised glass buildings worldwide is the Louvre Pyramid that stands in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The pyramid stands tall at 70 feet and consists of 673 glass sections from tip to base.

5. Basque Health Department HQ, Bilbao, Spain

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Made of glass and steel with a polyhedral glass facade that allows light into the interior to make it a transparent, luminous space that appears almost surreal.

6. La Estancia Glass Chapel, Mexico

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Whilst not the largest or the grandest glass building, this beautiful open glass chapel is set in the peaceful gardens of Cuernavacova and is an extremely popular place for weddings. What makes this chapel clever is that the four facades are wrapped with Uprofiled glass, each spaced 10cm apart, to ventilate the small space without a requirement for air conditioning.

7. The Glass Home by Carlo Santambrogio, Milan, Italy

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You definitely wouldn’t want to throw stones near this house as this cubed concept home, designed with a blue hue, features glass walls, ceilings, stairways and doors. The home makes small spaces appear larger because even the furniture is made out of glass.

8. The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision

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Wrapped in a skin of colourful glass panels, this is one seriously eye-catching building.

9. Selgas Cano Architecture Office, Spain

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This glass capsule set in the middle of a quiet Spanish forest is definitely a bit different from the usual office building. A clear curved wall of glass means the walls and ceiling of the office are completely open to the nature that surrounds it.

10. The Gherkin, London

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And, finally, one that’s a little closer to home is London’s striking skyscraper, The Gherkin. The skin of the building is double glazed and the space between the glazing is ventilated to help control temperature and ventilation. Surprisingly, most of the panes of glass are flat and the only curved glass is the ‘lens’ at the top.

 

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Glass Fact: History of Glass (Part 2)

Glass is an inorganic material usually clear or translucent with different colors. It is hard, brittle, and stands up to the effects of winds, rain o sun.

Glass has been used for various kinds of utensils, mirrors, windows and more. It is thought to have been first created around 3000 BC, during the bronze age. Egyptian glass beads date back to about 2500 BC.
During the Ptolemiac period, artisans created “ mosaic glass” in which slides of colored glass were used to create decorative in patters.

In the 1st century BC, the glassmakers in Syria invented glassblowing and in the same period, in Venice, the first clear glass called cristallo was invented and then heavily exported. In 1625, glassmaker, George Ravenscroft invented lead crystal glass adding lead oxide to Venetian glass.
It was until 1902, that Irving W Colburn patented the sheet glass drawing machine, making the mass production of glass for windows possible.

In 1904, a patented for a “glass-shaping machine” was granted to Michael Owen. The immense production of bottles, jars, and others containers owes its inception to this invention.

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Frameless Glass – Best for Shop Front Doors.

As with the local restaurant pictured in a nice area in Lagos, we are able to create a first impression reasonably easily.

Giving your retail or restaurant premises a secure yet completely see through frameless tempered glass door/ wall so to speak has much more benefits than that of a traditional automatic door system.

  • Free Lighting
  • Free advertising
  • Completely secure
  • Cost effective
  • Low maintenance costs
  • Easy to rebrand
  • Great Looking
  • Quick installation times

We live and operate in a very tightly held local historical city ( Lagos State, Nigeria) and as a very peculiar market in Sub Sahara Africa, yet glass is one of the less subjective issues that we deal with when it comes to conservation and planning.

In Nigeria you will find many buildings are now starting to use glass to clad the buildings that were once stone or brick. I credit local/ national vehicle garages who have somewhat been a leader in glass entrances/ buildings.. Don’t believe me? Just drive down to your local Car dealer showroom on Adetokunboh Ademola Str V-Island or similar.

For the very reasons we have listed, you can see the attraction of glass.

There are several types of hinge systems that can be used, with either self closing or swing free,  huge selection of other hardware including door handles ( the fish handles in the picture are custom made and designed by us)

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What is “beveled” glass?

The term “beveled glass” refers to the process of cutting the edges of glass to a specific angle and size in order to produce a certain look. This process leaves the glass thinner around the edges and thicker in the center. This is normally used in places where the glass is a focal point in the room.

The bevel around the glass can range in size from 6mm to 8mm. There is an additional cost involved in beveling the glass, but the increase in cost is normally not significant enough to be the determining factor. At NFO Glass we offer the best machine-cut and bevel all types of glass.

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Why does glass sometimes appear green?

This particular question relating to why glass sometimes appear green is a relatively common question we get about glass.
The greenish tint on glass table tops and glass table covers comes from the iron content used in the manufacturing process. This is typical of all glass table tops and table covers in the furniture industry, and is known as clear glass. This greenish tint is most noticeable when looking at the glass piece from the edges.
If this is something you prefer to avoid, you can opt for low-iron glass. Low-iron glass has all the same properties as clear glass, but the low iron content means a clearer look and substantially less greenish tint.

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Float Glass – Green tinted Glass

Green tinted glass is a transparent float glass produced by adding an oxide of metals into raw materials in the float glass process, the most technologically advanced method in the world. Being manufactured by this process, green tinted glass can effectively absorb the heat while offering a green aesthetic appearance. Used for many everyday purposes, float glass can be identified by looking at the edge to discern if there is a green tint

Green float glass is prized for its high light transmission, optical clarity and ability to be fabricated to meet customer needs for performance and aesthetics.

Click below to Learn more about the performance, characteristics, available thickness and measurements.
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Another safety glass – Laminated Glass

Laminated glass is a type of safety glass. It has two or more sheets of glass placed together with one or more layers of PVB (polyvinyl butyral, a type of plastic) between them to make it less likely to break, or less likely to pose a threat when broken.

Laminated glass is normally used when there is a possibility of human impact or where the glass could fall if shattered and also for architectural applications.

Click below to Read more or download on Laminated Glass

Laminated Glass

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Maintaining your Glass splashback

A glass splash is essential and necessary for protecting the wall behind the hob, stove cooking areas but it is also a major feature of the modern kitchen. A glass splash back behind the hob or stove allows for easier cleaning of all foodstuffs that could potentially stain your bare walls. The properties of glass splash back make it easily cleaned when marked with water, grease, foodstuffs and bacteria.

Click below to Read more or download how to Maintaining your Glass splash back

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Selection of Glass for Building Construction

Site construction has developed to the use of high quality glass home and office construction or installing in building projects. There are some precise features of glass that are admirably providing positive usages in various site construction installations. Laminated glass in home and other construction sites has been providing some specific benefits that no one can avoid and thus installers and users are depending upon using laminated glass in their home and other construction. There are some features that attract installers to use the Laminated Glasses in their usages. Such features are Safety, Security, Sound Reduction, Solar Energy Control, Ultra Violet Control, Low Visible Distortion, Durability, Design Versatility, and Easy Installation etc.

The tempered/toughened glass also provides some extra features to laminated safety building glass as the glass is even designed to withstand pressures, bullet and bomb blast. This particular type of glass is made so by using compound thick and solid layers of glass that makes it durable enough to survive a lot. Tempered/toughened glass is secure and protected glass that provides durable protection to the people in keeping your house and the environment protected.

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