All You Need To Know About Glass Balustrade With Handrail

We all see programs such as Grand Designs, glossy magazines, glass expanses etc, and beautiful glass balustrades, some with handrails and some without.

There is a lot of confusion regarding the requirements for a handrail on glass balustrades and glass railings. So what exactly are the legal requirements? The Origin Architectural team has a full understanding of the legalities of what can be achieved with glass balustrades while being mindful of safety, especially when creating inspirational properties or areas around the home.

While developing a new structural glass system we consider all the design and safety elements alongside regulations while still creating a spectacular finish and look for clients. According to British Standards 6180-2011 which have superseded British Standards 6180-1999, glass balustrades can be provided on single-structure glass such as toughened as long as it complies with the regulation that states it must have a safety handrail in the event that the glass panel fails.

A glass balustrade with a handrail does not provide uninterrupted views. Although in the event that the toughened glass fails, the handrail will remain in position and top any adult falling over the edge. The same rules may not apply to a young child who is under the height of 1100mm and I strongly believe that anyone investing in structural glass balustrades with young children should seriously think about the risks.

Our Flex-Fit balustrade system is a unique glass channel system that does not require a handrail and which incorporates the standard channel retaining system but is capable of taking glass up to 25mm thick, the benefit of this system is that glass panels can be laminated together giving a typical overall thickness of 21.5mm thick which makes our system 100% completely safe and fully compliant to British Standards. In the event that a glass panel is impacted with a localised force, the panels will not fail as the lamination and the outer glass panel will retain their rigidity and stop any person from falling through.

In order to satisfy modern architectural design while offering the required safety levels, our aim is to ensure the product we developed not only looked spectacular but offers clients the full confidence of a safe and secure installation. We recently supplied this balustrade in Barry using our flex fit system, offering endless views!

For more information on your future balustrade, contact our expert team at 0113 277 4316 or email us at sales@originarchitectural.co.uk