Safe and comfortable outdoor space to great heights

Solarlux specializes in high-quality customized glazing systems.  Balcony glazing is one of the product groups with which the Nijverdal-based company has been successful for years. The challenges are also increasing. We are building in ever tighter locations, ever closer together and ever higher.

"This is because space is limited in the Netherlands and especially in the Randstad," says André Jansen, account manager for projects at Solarlux. "Buildings are also more often near a railroad track, an airport, industry or another noise source. So you run up against noise requirements more and more. With our balcony systems, we can ensure that all balconies, loggias and window openings can be made soundproof or even soundproof."

Comfort

A second aspect is living comfort. Jansen: "We know from experience that you can only stay on a balcony with just a fence if the weather is warm and windless, which is 70% of the time not the case. If you put a glass screen around it, then in the morning with the sun shining on it and with an outside temperature around freezing, it will quickly become 20 to 25 degrees on your balcony. That glass screen makes your living space bigger and more comfortable to use. That's what a balcony is for, isn't it?"

Stadionplein Amsterdam residential complex executed with SL25 XXL (Photo: Emile Willems)

Systems

Solarlux has several custom systems for balconies. Jansen: "We have sliding and pivoting balcony glazing, floor-high or half-high on a glass or architectural parapet, solutions for loggias and cantilevered outdoor spaces, and fully transparent or framed aluminum profiles. With the latter, you can create the most airtight solutions. They remain outdoor spaces, so they are not one hundred percent wind and watertight."

Wind tunnel test

Safety is an aspect Solarlux pays close attention to. "Blocking rain, cold and wind is one thing, making sure the furniture or even your balcony screens blow down is another. Janssen: "At higher heights and in areas with high wind loads, statics are very important, especially at the corners. For each building you have to look at that carefully, and if you don't trust it, we recommend an on-site wind tunnel test. That can yield surprises. The Tasman Tower in Groningen, a modern Arc de Triomphe, is a good example. Regular calculations came up with a wind load of 1750 Pascal. What the wind tunnel test showed: the tapered towers at the back allowed a suction of 2400 Pascal. That's four times hurricane force. So you see: measuring is knowing."

Monarch III residential tower is next to the Utrechtsebaan and the Randstadrail in The Hague. All apartments have soundproofed or sound deafened exterior spaces made with SL25, swing sliders for the balconies, fixed screens for the bedrooms. (Photo: Thea van den Heuvel Fotografie)

Heaviest certification

Clients and contractors are responsible for the safety of their structures. Jansen is adamant: "That is why  I find it incomprehensible that price is still selected at the expense of safety. 'State in the specifications' is indeed true, but that does not mean it is safe. Solarlux supplies heavier variants especially for these high loads. Our sliding and the pivot-slide variants, the SL23 and the SL25 XXL respectively, can be used at great heights and floor-to-ceiling heights. All our systems have the heaviest certification in the field of statics, the ETA standardization. We look specifically at the building for each project, have the expertise and experience in-house to advise what is and is not structurally possible, and in combination with renowned testing agencies, we can prescribe the safest solutions."

In conclusion, what were customers coming to Solarlux for? Jansen: "For the quality, not only of the product, but also our added value in pre-consultation, good workable details and guarantees. And because with Solarlux balcony systems the end user can use a safe outdoor space with pleasure and without problems."