Toughened Glass VS Laminated Glass: Which One is Best for My Balustrade?

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1-Sided 1 section glass balustrade
2-Sided 2 section glass balustrade
3-Sided 3 section glass balustrade
4-Sided 4 sides glass balustrade
5-Sided 5 sides glass balustrade
Curved curved glass balustrade

When it comes to selecting robust safety glass for your balustrade, you're faced with two choices: toughened or laminated glass.

At a glance, these two types might appear similar, but they differ in several aspects, especially in their manufacturing process and behaviour upon impact. While we offer toughened glass as the standard option, the decision of whether to go for toughened or laminated glass isn't cut and dry. To assist you, we've put together a practical guide that presents all the essential information. This will enable you to make an informed choice between toughened and laminated glass for your balustrade. Continue reading to learn more.

 

Striking Hybrid® Aerofoil Balustrade in the afternoon sun

What is Toughened Glass?

TToughened glass is glass that has undergone a heating and quick cooling process that transform the glass to be much more resistant to impact by as much as four times stronger than ordinary float glass. This enhanced strength is achieved through a process called tempering (also called toughening in the UK). In this process, standard float glass panels that have been cut to size and have had their edges polished is heated to an extremely high temperature (around 650 degrees C) and then rapidly cooled. The cooling process (also known as “quenching”) creates an exceptionally strong outer layer. This toughened outer layer provides the glass with significant resistance to impact and the ability to endure extreme temperature changes. A glass panel that is toughened will usually have a mark in one of the corners showing it has been toughened, etched into the glass.

What is Laminated Glass?

Laminated glass is made from two sheets of glass with a plastic interlayer between them. The interlayer is usually made from EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) or PVB (polyvinyl butyral). Similar to our toughened glass, the two glass sheets have been tempered and strengthened to be roughly four times more resilient than standard float glass. In the final stage of production, the glass and plastic interlayer are fused together using high heat and pressure.

Breakage

Safety remains the foremost priority in the realm of glass balustrades, which is why we employ glass that surpasses the UK Safety Requirements. However, it's essential to acknowledge that almost everything has a breaking point. Understanding the potential limitations of our safety glass and how a glass panel might respond to impact is crucial.

Toughened Glass

  • The tempering process renders the glass highly durable, enabling the glass panel to withstand high-intensity impacts. In the unlikely event that it does break, it is designed to shatter into very small pieces, which is known as “breaks safely” as opposed to breaking into large shards or spikes. This is one of the reasons it’s called “safety glass”.

Toughened glass will break into many tiny pieces.

Laminated Glass

  • Laminated glass is a robust structure that requires considerable force to break. However, in the event that one of the two laminated panels breaks, it remains bonded to the second panel which did not break. The strength of the glass overall is dependent upon the thickness of the panels and if they are, or are not, themselves toughened.  The thickness and makeup of the interlayer also has an effect on the permeability of the panel in case of breakage.


Laminated glass can in many cases can remain in situ even if one panel will break.

Available Glass Thickness

We offer a range of thicknesses for both our laminated and toughened glass, depending on the specific application..

Toughened Glass


Thicker 12mm toughened glass providing shelter from wind and rain

Laminated Glass


Two panels of toughened glass sandwiching a plastic interlayer

Security & Strength

Toughened Glass

  • There’s a prevalent misconception that thicker laminated glass is stronger than a single 10mm toughened glass panel, but this isn't accurate. Contrary to common belief, laminated glass isn't as strong as the 10mm monolithic panel upon initial impact. The 10mm solid panel demands significantly more force to shatter and boasts approximately 20%-30% more strength compared to laminated glass of similar thickness.
  • The tempering process not only enhances the glass's load bearing and breakage resistance but also provides remarkable thermal resilience to the glass panel.