Glass balustrades for terraces, staircases and pools

Swapping a masonry or steel railing for glass is the single change that transforms a sea-view terrace most. Light reaches the back of the living room, the space feels larger and the view stops being cut into strips. And contrary to what many people assume, it is safer than a conventional railing: it cannot be climbed and has no gaps a child can fit through.

We always work with laminated safety glass — two or three toughened panes bonded with PVB interlayer or SentryGlas resin. If a pane takes a heavy impact, the fragments stay bonded to the interlayer and the panel stays standing; it never falls away. We calculate thickness from the height, the length of the run, the fixing type and the local wind load — on the seafront, with the garbí and the tramuntana, that is no small detail — and always specify above what Spain's CTE DB-SUA code requires.

Three fixing systems, depending on the look you want: a continuous U-channel recessed into the slab or bolted to its edge, which gives the cleanest result with no visible hardware; stainless steel clamps, the most affordable option and the quickest to install; and point fixings with through-bolted standoffs, very common on interior staircases. The handrail can be stainless steel, powder-coated aluminium in any colour, timber — or omitted entirely where regulations allow.