Technical guide
Glass balustrade loadings explained
BS 6180 sets a horizontal line load at handrail height according to how the building is used: 0.74 kN/m for offices and residential, 1.5 kN/m for retail and assembly, and 3.0 kN/m where crowding is expected.
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0.74 kN/m
Offices, residential landings and areas with low occupant density. Usually achievable with 17.5mm laminated toughened in a base channel, no handrail required if the post-breakage case is satisfied.
1.5 kN/m
Retail floors, restaurants, assembly areas and general public circulation. Typically needs 21.5mm laminated toughened, deeper channel embedment and often a bonded handrail.
3.0 kN/m
Stadium concourses, areas of possible crowd surge and some transport interchanges. Thicker glass, closer fixings, structural verification of the substrate and a handrail as standard.
Post-breakage performance
The barrier must still guard the edge with one pane broken. That is why frameless work uses stiff ionoplast interlayers and why a continuous handrail is so often specified.
The substrate is part of the design
A base channel applies a substantial bending moment at its fixing. The slab or edge beam has to be capable of resisting it — the glass calculation alone is not the whole design.
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Free measured survey, fixed written quotation, and a straight answer about what is and is not worth doing. Mainland UK, commercial work only.