Glass claddings for interiors, characteristics and advantages

Glass claddings for interiors have features and offer advantages that make them particularly appreciated in homes, offices, commercial and public premises.

The scenographic effect offered by the glass and crystal allows the creation of high quality interior claddings. The purity of the material lends itself to a minimal design, perfectly in line with the expectations of the modern style.

Glass embellishes environments, exploiting the peculiarities of the material and the suggestive plays of light, color and shadow that it generates.

Used for interior claddinss it is not a common glass, but it is treated to be durable and resistant.

Let’s find out together what are the features and advantages that this material offers to interior design.

Features

As we have meant glass as a cladding material requires new construction technologies that solve the problem of its characteristic fragility. Thanks to the creation of a resistant material, glass has become a trendy element in the interior claddings of modern apartments and places for collective use. It has the function of bringing out airiness, hygiene and structural lightness.

Safety, required in areas for public use, the glass used for interior claddings must meet the stringent requirements established by the EN 12150 standard. Each manufacturing company must comply with this standard to ensure the safety of those who live in the premises.

Cladding glass has specific characteristics that depend on the type of treatment it has undergone. In these cases we are talking about:

• tempered glass;
• laminated glass.

They are obtained respectively by tempering and stratification.

Tempering is a thermal process. By exposure to a strong thermal shock ranging from 650 ° -700 ° to fast cooling, it makes the glass very resistant and safe. The industrial temperature treatment means that, in case of breakage, the tempered glass shatters into small pieces, without creating dangerous sharp splinters. This type of glass is also used to make large windows, walkways, windshields and car windows, as well as for smartphone and tablet screens.

Even the stratification allows to obtain a safe glass. Laminated glass is made up of overlapping sheets, held together by a transparent adhesive film in PVB (polyvinyl butyral). This composition is heat treated and pressed until all the air bubbles, even the most microscopic, are released and maximum adhesion between the glass sheets and the film is reached. Also in this case the broken glass does not generate dangerous splinters. In the event of a violent impact, it shatters into many small pieces that remain attached to the adhesive film.

Benefits

The benefits deriving from this type of processing are many and range from aesthetic quality to functionality.

Good glass for interior cladding must offer:

• robustness;
• durability;
• aesthetics.

Wall claddings, glass only or glass and metal stair railings, partition walls, showers, bathroom or kitchen furniture top or side finishes must meet essential safety requirements.

According to the function that the glass has, it is necessary to take into account the load resistance in the design phase. Let’s imagine the internal staircase of an apartment or a shopping center: it must bear a lot of weight and its glass structures require scrupulous design that at the same time does not disturb the aesthetic lines.

Also for bathroom and kitchen furniture top, which must bear weights, withstand shocks and not alter their appearance even in the presence of heat.

For this reason, glass for internal claddings may also need a treatment to withstand high temperatures, such as those that pots and pans of various types can undergo.

In many cases, anti-stain and anti-scratch treatments are also necessary. Large surfaces such as glass coverings, for example to protect the walls adjacent to the washbasins, or internal partition windows are potentially exposed to damage from which only appropriate treatments can protect them.

Only technologically advanced industrial treatments are able to give the glass characteristics that make it suitable to be a resistant and durable cladding.

Despite this, the characteristics of lightness and transparency must be preserved.

The visual impact of the glass coverings is due to these features, capable of satisfying all the needs of a modern and essential furniture.

Capoferri projects with glass cladding for interiors

Over time, Capoferri has also expanded its offer for interior claddings. Made of bronze, copper, wood or glass, they are able to furnish in a minimal and elegant way.

In fact, contemporary spaces don’t need much furniture for their personality. The claddings play a fundamental role, because they define the atmospheres in an absolutely discreet way and leave the interior spaces almost unchanged.

For this reason, Capoferri’s design offices and the company’s laboratories see the creation of glass coverings for interiors intended to replace the furnishing elements. The glass leaves the possibility to interpret the space in many ways. It constitutes the source of light, a surface on which it plays and creates reflections and in which the transparencies seem to extend the surfaces.

One example is the Oil & Gas Industry of Abu Dhabi. Here Capoferri has been involved in the design and construction of REI (Resistance Entretenir Isolement) doors, internal glass finishes and stairs. Given the type of activity, in order to resist explosion and fire, everything had to be rigorously blast-resistant. A crystal and steel staircase constitutes the minimal aesthetic of these spaces, whose distinctive feature is lightness.

Designing a glass and steel staircase is a choice of great architectural charisma. Lightness and airiness constitute the structure and define the external appearance of a staircase which, instead, is in all respects stable and safe.

On a glass and steel staircase, each step seems to be suspended in the air and the volumes seem to disappear disguised by transparency and light.

Contemporary architecture gives a lot of space to the design of glass and steel staircases that represent the most current solution for connecting two floors. Designing staircases of this type is anything but simple. It requires a particular type of glass and relevant design skills that lead to straight, arched, linear, safe freestanding staircases with an attractive design.

The minimal style is perfectly interpreted by the glass, which always guarantees a discreet and elegant result. Combined with steel it becomes an architectural work of great strength and durability.

In architecture, the search for uniformity and harmony is an increasingly urgent need, which engages professionals in a careful study of materials and design capable of creating an aesthetically balanced work. Hence the involvement in designing and building glass staircases with a minimal and modern design.

Cutting-edge technology and creativity are the tools of a company that has been dealing with windows and glass structures for generations. The goal is always customer satisfaction.