GBA Structural Glass Flooring

Create a Brighter Space with GBA Structural Glass Flooring

Glass may look delicate, but GBA Structural Glass for walkways and stairs is rugged and durable, capable of handling weight and impact just as well as any other building material. The effect of glass walkways and stairs is both dramatic and elegant, allowing light into otherwise dark areas and creating interesting visual effects within the space. We can customize glass flooring designs to meet any requirement with our Structural Glass flooring.  Most people desire natural light in every room, but are unable to achieve this goal.  The addition of an interior glass floor is perfect for rooms where the floor plan does not allow for windows or natural light. Internal glass floors allow the light to penetrate downwards, opening up the space to a brighter and more natural aura.  

Whether in an office, retail establishment, or home, GBA Structural Glass flooring, glass walkways, and stairways add to the interest and appeal of the interior while reducing the artificial lighting needed to illuminate a building.  Having a glass floor in your home does not mean that you are losing privacy.  With options available to change the transparency of the glass, this is the perfect flooring system for any new building project. 

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Glass flooring and stairs are also fire-rated, capable of compartmentalizing and stopping the spread of an existing fire. This characteristic alone can be a compelling motivation for implementing glass flooring and stairs in any building.  Typically, fire-rated glass is more expensive than traditional glass, but we have made our GlassWalk™ Glass Floor Systems a cost-effective glass application for any home or office space.  With a stock glass floor program, we offer beautiful structural glass floors at reasonable prices that opens the door to state-of-the-art aesthetics. 

Growing Use of GBA Structural Glass Flooring Systems

More designers and architects today are incorporating glass as a replacement for wood or concrete. As a true innovator in the architectural glass industry, we offer impact-resistant glass and laminates for walkways and stairways that have equal or greater strength than the common materials.  With a free span of up to 72", this is the perfect glass flooring system to showcase any room below and shower it with natural light.  

Building architects around the world are incorporating more glass features in their building designs. Glass elements admit natural light, enhance the space, and create an ever-changing interior and exterior visual effect within the structure. Glass for exterior cladding and interior walls and floors are principal components of several award-winning and instantly recognizable buildings.  

Glass features add brilliance, clean angles, a sense of space, and can provide multi-directional sight lines.  Glass walkways are a cost effective solution when compared to traditional artificial light in hallways. No matter what walkable glass application you add to your space, natural light will flow downwards, taking away need for use of artificial lighting during daylight hours. 

Depending on the dimensions of the floor, there may not be any need for additional intermediate support.  GBA's stock glass floor program offers floor systems which do not typically require intermediate support.  

Darkened rooms and nooks under walkways and stairwells, for example, are brightened when strong, lightweight structural glass is used for floor systems and stair steps. Often designers opt to bring light to a lower level by incorporating a circular, rectangular or other glass floor section to the flooring above. These provide a natural “skylight” effect to rooms and areas, especially below ground level.

Benefits of Structural Glass Flooring

Durable glass flooring systems are an effective way to add a pedestrian walkway without leaving a dark space beneath that is usually artificially lit. GBA GlassWalk™ Structural Glass Systems eliminate this issue by providing a sturdy transparent or translucent walkway made up of specially treated glass panels mounted in precision engineered, custom-manufactured aluminum grids. The aluminum grids are available in multiple colors to match your preference. The tempered glass flooring panels for GlassWalk™ are available in 12” squares to 48” and come in a variety of custom styles and shapes. Metal framing is designed specifically for each size of glass panel.

In addition to lowering energy costs, GBA Structural Glass flooring also acts as an insulator.  Much like insulating windows, insulated glass floors maintain consistent temperatures within the building areas.  Glass flooring also muffles sound better than metal or wood because of the lamination of the glass.  The interlayers of the glass provide a level of sound absorption that reduces vibrations.   

The glass panels can be customized to any degree of transparency or privacy that you desire.  To customize your glass floor design even more, LED lighting is an available add-on to any glass floor in a living room, home office, or glass walkway.  GBA has pre-engineered friction fit systems, or we can assist you with the customization of your project.  

Further, the grid system is produced with 25% post-consumer recycled content, which makes them compatible with green building standards.  

GBA GlassWalk™ Structural Glass Floor Systems

GBA GlassWalk™ Structural Glass Systems are 3-ply units supported by robust, modular aluminum grid systems. These systems are durable and lightweight, easy to install, and have been proven in hundreds of applications. These systems are ideal for interior applications where the design intent is to maximize the natural light in any area.   It is recommend to purchase the pre-engineered system to be installed as opposed to purchasing your own glass, and using that in our framing system.  We install glass floor panels that have been tempered and laminated for strength so the glass panel is safe to walk on.  

Most importantly, the finished glass and metal structure meet all building code standards for impact-resistance and strength. GBA Structural Glass Flooring system is also fire rated, adding a vital safety element to the building design.  Fire-resistance provides safety by reducing the spread of flames and smoke to any facility or area.  

With stock sizes available and quick lead times, it has never been easier to get cost-effective architectural glass flooring.  We will ship all components of the project as a complete kit for ease of installation. GBA works with you every step of the way to provide project specific shop drawings stamped by an engineer for your glass floor system in all 50 US States and Canada.  We are committed to paying attention to every construction detail to ensure a safe design of your structural glass floor.

Stair Treads and Slip Resistant Glass Floors

Glass staircases are a cost-effective floor system that is easy to install for any home builder.  Create beautiful accents in your home with a glass staircase that comes in any shape and size, and opens the door for endless design possibilities. Glass staircases are designed to carry twice the weight of traditional staircases, and their full glass railing maximize the amount of natural light in the surrounding area.  For further custom options, add LED lighting to your glass stair panels to make them a dramatic feature at any time of day.  

Glass stair steps may be up to 48” wide and still require only two-point support. The three-ply stair treads are 1.245” thick. Glass stair panels are set into aluminum support brackets with mounting screws that are not visible, allowing for a clean, unobtrusive appearance.  Similar to the structural glass panels, our glass stair treads are strengthened through lamination.  GBA also produces the glass panels and aluminum supports and hardware for landings to complete the job.

What about the safety of glass floors?  To prevent risk or injury, we offer many different slip-resistant glass floor options.  To create a textured, non-slip surface for walking on both glass floor surfaces and stairways, GBA infuses ceramic-based frits that are embedded into the surface and form a granular texture to eliminate slipping. Alternatively, we can apply an acid that etches a non-slip texture into the glass surface.  Depending on what the intended use of the structural glass floor is, we offer different levels of transparency in the glass.  Even with a fully translucent floor, you will still have high levels of natural light penetrating through the glass floor.