Fascinating balcony glazing

High-quality housing in a prime location. That is what Monarch III in The Hague stands for. The two residential towers of seventy meters high, house a catering facility in the plinth, as many as 248 rental apartments above and 146 parking spaces are realized underground. Because of optimal views, the apartments have floor-to-ceiling windows and the corners of the buildings are designed to be as transparent as possible. Transparency also plays the leading role in the indoor and cantilevered balconies.

The balcony glazing used is from Solarlux. The company is known as a provider of fascinating glass solutions for facade openings. In the field of folding walls and balcony glazing, Solarlux is the global market leader.

Living comfort for residents has been increased: not only in square footage, but also in noise reduction.

Aesthetic building design

"The Monarch III residential towers, designed by architect PowerHouse Company, are a great example of the perfect combination between aesthetic building design and functionality." Speaking is André Jansen, account manager at Solarlux. "We often work with ASR Vastgoed and ProVast and they approached us for this project because they know that as a major player we have many years of experience with such large-scale projects."

Transparency with high quality

Allowing light to enter, creating outdoor spaces, energy-saving construction and sound insulation: Solarlux's innovative systems for balcony and façade concepts are an asset to the building in many ways. Jansen explains that in this project, the south facade of Tower A and the east facade of Tower B were fitted with the Solarlux glass swing-slide system, the SL25. "We used this type of balcony glazing for both the indoor and cantilever balconies. In all sorts of different variants, since there were no standard sizes. That requires customization and that takes experience." As many as 1,250 sashes were incorporated into the building, and the folding systems ranged from 3- to 13-piece, sometimes rotating counterclockwise, sometimes rotating clockwise.

The Solarlux SL25 is the standard product in balcony glazing. It is also available in variants for extra-large (XXL) or for extra wind load (SL23). (Image: Solarlux)

Accommodating dimensional tolerances

"The biggest challenge with this project is in accommodating the dimensional tolerances," Jansen continues, "because in practice no balcony is the same. Once the balconies were ready, we started measuring ourselves and produced from construction. We delivered each week the number of wings that were installed that week, so we had no storage and additional risks. In cooperation with VMG Hekwerken, who made the fencing for the balconies, we built a structure on top of which our balcony glazing was placed. This was then assembled by our skilled assembly crews."

Increased living comfort

The high-quality balcony glazing creates light and space, thus ensuring optimal living comfort. "Our balcony glazing also plays an important role in terms of sound insulation. The noise requirements from the market are increasing to also guarantee the living comfort of residents in urban areas. In this project, too, there are conditions from the construction side regarding the number of decibels allowed on the facade. After all, the residential towers are adjacent to the A12 motorway. Because our systems have been tested by reputable parties and we can deliver with the required certificates, we can say, 'this is the noise reduction we can realize and achieve' in a substantiated way." Another additional advantage is that, thanks to our glazing, the balconies can be used all year round, creating additional square meters of living space for the residents which further increases living comfort. "We think that is important, as is the satisfaction among architects with Solarlux." The 2019 customer satisfaction survey by BouwKennis shows that Solarlux achieves the highest score among architects. Solarlux scores particularly well on the points of innovativeness, advice representative, keeping agreements and service. "We are only too proud of that," Jansen concludes.