Tempered glass has become a common spectacle in commercial and residential spaces. Its popularity is largely attributed to its added strength and durability. Unlike ordinary glass, tempered glass is typically used to enhance its toughness and longevity through heat treatment. But where and how can you use tempered glass? This article talks about the top three main uses of tempered glass.
Commercial Buildings
There are many places in a commercial building where you can use tempered glass. For instance, you can use this type of glass to design commercial building envelopes and facades. You can also use it in your unframed assemblies, including frameless glass doors. In general, tempered glass is appropriate for structurally overloaded applications, and places where glass can be hazardous in case of an impact, including office partitions, doors, windows, and decorative panels in interior design.
Some American states have building codes that demand the use of tempered or laminated glass in commercial spaces. These applications include skylights, stairways, elevators, doorways, and fire department access panels. Understand that the specific requirements change depending on local building codes. So, your local codes may require you to use tempered glass in many other areas in your commercial building.
Residential Buildings
With its excellent strength and durability, tempered glass has become a preferred choice for homeowners. For instance, it is the right choice for railings, doors, and windows in your home. You can also use it to make different types of furniture, household appliances, and interior décor elements, including glass tabletops, frameless shower doors, glass shelves, glass kitchen cabinets, and glass near fireplaces.
Other residential applications of tempered glass include bathtub enclosures, skylights, glass frontages, elevators, swimming pools, and glass balcony doors. Aside from kitchen cabinets, you can also find tempered glass in many other parts of your kitchen, including ovens, stoves, and other kitchen appliances that regularly cope with great amounts of heat. The thermal strength, heat resistance, and toughness of tempered glass make it the perfect material for solar panels.
Restaurants
If you are designing your restaurant, hotel, pub, or any other foodservice space that will be frequented by customers every day, consider using tempered glass for safety. This glass will improve your restaurant’s safety standards by minimizing glass-related accidents. It is also designed to withstand extreme heat, which makes it perfect for the cooking area. Instead of using concrete walls, solid wood, and metal doors, you should use tempered glass to create your restaurant’s open and welcoming atmosphere. For more information on tempered glass, talk to Designer Glass Specialties.