Why and how to use aluminium rather than concrete? – Whitepaper
At Sapphire we’ve had almost 30 years’ experience in balconies and balustrades including first-hand experience with concrete, steel bolt-on and now, our Glide-on™ aluminium balconies. We’ve had years of experience working with concrete balconies but found so many disadvantages caused unnecessary delays and headaches on site. As a result, we found a better solution that provides all the benefits associated with concrete and more, without the hang-ups.
Glide-On™ balconies can also be used in both inset and projecting applications. With this type of aluminium balcony, steel anchors and arms are cast prior to install and the lightweight aluminium frame is manufactured offsite. Aluminium balconies are approximately half the weight of steel which can reduce the number of brackets required to connect back to the main structure, reducing the number of thermal breaks.
What’s included in this Whitepaper?
We’ve fixed balustrades to hundreds of concrete balconies. In doing so we have experienced first-hand the associated issues, particularly with scaffolding and waterproofing. We’ve also experienced the continuous struggle with balustrade fixings hitting rebar, making balustrades very slow to install and delaying programmes. Explore the benefits of aluminium balconies.
Key benefits explained
- Fire safety
- Drainage
- Thermal
- Soffits
- Coordination
- Timescales and cost
- Integrating brick slips and columns
