ES Homes & Property Interiors - The Attraction of Glass is Clear
Windows that turn opaque, see-through stairs and screens with lights. Glass is eco-friendly and looks stunning, says Barbara Chandler.
Now you see it, now you don't: windows that become cloudy and private a the flick of a switch show how amazing glass around the home can be in the 21st century. In a kitchen, such glass could allow you to have a fashionable and open-plan kitchen-diner, giving a greater feeling of light and space. At the flick of a switch you can cover up the cooking chaos when the dinner party guests arrive.
Today glass is the magic material of modern buildings. Londoners are loving the light it can bring into dark, cramped homes. Glass is also a trusty eco-friend, made mainly from sand, an abundant natural resource, or better still from old glass, which can be recycled time and time again.
Also super-thin glass slivers can be stuck together - or to other materials such as metals or wood. Here the enabler is "UV bonding", where a clear resin is hardened by light for structures that almost hover without a frame.
A glass staircase is now almost de rigueur for modern architecture and interior design. For safety, everything must conform to stringent building regulations and it is essential to use a specialist.
Add captivating colour (Colorglaze)and tactile texture (Colorglaze Texture) and glass leaps into life. Digital printing can put artwork and even photographs on to shower cubicles, table tops, screens and windows. Or a generous one-piece translucent glass "sandwich" can be filled with fabric, thin slivers of stone, leaves and grasses.
Go to Ion Glass (0845 658 9988), near Brighton. Explore web page after web page of inspirational past design commissions on www.ionglass.co.uk. You can commission "back-painted" glass in sheets of any colour, or go for a multi-coloured washbasin.
London is rich in glass artists. While obviously adept at vases, platters and goblets, they also put exquisite glass into buildings as wall panels (often lit), balustrades, screens or fitted into windows.
