Glass Balustrades
Christchurch
The Challenge
A frameless glass balustrade alongside a staircase needs to do two things at once: look effortless and perform under load. Without a handrail or frame to distribute forces, every glass panel must be engineered to resist the lateral loads it experiences while remaining completely invisible to the eye. Getting this wrong means either an unsafe structure or a cluttered aesthetic that defeats the purpose.
The EAP Solution
We designed this frameless glass balustrade to be as structurally rigorous as it is visually clean. By carefully sizing the glass panels and their base fixings to carry the required loads independently, we eliminated the need for any top rail or intermediate framing. It preserves the open, light-filled feel of the stairwell. The result is a balustrade that meets New Zealand’s building code requirements for safety and load resistance without compromising the architectural intent
Key Engineering Elements
- Frameless glass panel design, engineered as an independent structure
- Glass thickness and type specified to meet lateral load and impact requirements
- Base channel and fixing design sized for the specific panel geometry and loading
- Compliance with New Zealand Building Code clause F4 (safety from falling)
