June
2018
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Laminated Glass is a safety glass – it holds together even when shattered. It is created by bonding two pieces of glass together using an interlayer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). Various inserts can be also be added during this process, sandwiched between the glass and bonding agents to create decorative panels.
Whilst laminated glass has been around for some time – and designers are familiar with the concept of laminating coloured films, pictures, and monotone vinyl designs – there are a wide range of materials that can be laminated to create decorative glass designs. In this blog we will look at a few of these materials that you may never have considered.
Natural stone veneers are created by slicing a thin layer of stone from the front of a large slab. They can then be added as an insert within the glass lamination process to create a product that has the visual aesthetics of a natural stone surface but with certain key advantages:
Leaf skeletons are a lace like framework of the veins. They are remnants once all the tissue has broken down either, either through natural decay once a leaf falls from a tree or accelerated through by exposing the leaves to a sodium carbonate mixture. The advantage of accelerating the process rather than collecting the leaf skeletons naturally is that carefully producing them in the studio allows the most aesthetically pleasing leaves to be selected and for their skeletons and to be preserved intact.
In the above glass design, birch leaf skeletons and a light sheer fabric have been laminated between low-iron glass. To finish the design, a gradient of colour was added with gold paint.
Hand-printed paper designs are a popular alternative to mass-market wallpapers. These hand-printed papers, however, still need to hold a certain level of robustness to survive the hanging process intact.
For more delicate paper designs, an alternative option is to laminate between glass and then fix these floor-to-ceiling glass panels to the wall. This also has the advantage of lightening a room as the glass will help to reflect natural light around the space.
In reality this is not broken glass being laminated – 3 panels of glass are laminated together and then the middle panel is shattered (the outer pieces remain unbroken). The 3 panels hold together because laminated glass forms a safety glass. This creates a design reminiscent of cracked ice in the shattered glass interlayer (emanating out from the point of impact where it was shattered).
Painted glass panels can be used in areas such as shower rooms where a traditional framed picture would be at risk of being damaged by the damp conditions. The design is created by painting directly onto the surface of glass and it is then laminated to a second panel – encasing the painting within the glass. As laminated glass forms a waterproof safety glass, this painting is sealed and will not be damaged by the conditions. A further advantage of laminating painted glass is that it is not a necessity to frame these panels.
The Old Smithy
Carr Lane
Hambleton
Poulton-le-Fylde
Lancashire
FY6 9DW
United Kingdom