High quality balustrade systems from Q-railing have recently been specified for a private grand design. Facing challenges such as no fixing points, the company demonstrated ingenuity and successful collaboration with the project’s engineer.
The initial enquiry for the project was received from an architect looking for some help coming up with a solution to a very specific challenge. A meeting was arranged with Q-railing’s engineer to provide a quote and to come up with a fixing detail for a glass balustrade.
The brief was that the architect wanted a facetted curve on the balcony; however, the main stumbling block was that there were no fixing points to allow a connection for the glass. As a result S&P’s engineer surveyed the site and a 3D model of the area was created. This 3D model allowed our structural engineer to come up with the solution of using a 200 x 100 x 5 RHS section that was fixed to the building at two points with M12 Fischer resin fixings. The steel was then fabricated in sections to allow for the facetted design to be installed.
Working collaboratively with the main contractor, they kindly installed a ply wood sloping cover to the steel and this was then leaded. The glass installed was 15mm toughened; the holes in the ply and steel were drilled on site; and the steel was tapped to receive the Q-railing MOD0749 fixings 4 No. per glass section. The glass was then finally installed and cleaned to form this beautiful end result of a charming floating glass system that allows the balcony to be utilised whilst creating a seamless connection with the natural surrounding environment.
Surpassing expectations
The project was predicated to take eight weeks but with the collaborative efforts of the teams, Q-railing took approximately six weeks from concept to completion. The team were all pleased with the results, and more importantly, so was the client and the architect.
The project architect comments: “It was a complicated project given the facetted nature of the balustrade and the clients requirement to avoid any hand railing obscuring the view. I was delighted with the helpful and informative approach that S&P Structures Ltd offered not only at the design stage but right through the construction and installation process. The overall result is a stylish piece of design and engineering which compliments the whole building.”