Sapphire continues to impress with unique Glide-on™ Cassette balconies for Green Man Lane
Sapphire’s Cassette® balconies, combining the speed and efficiency of offsite production with innovative Glide-On™ connectors, ensured a rapid and rigid solution for continuous balconies to new apartments at Green Man Lane in West London. The balconies, with frameless structural glass balustrades, are a signature feature of the development’s high-rise façade, with long spans divided by privacy screens.
Each balcony at Green Man Lane is formed from six Sapphire Cassettes®. In essence, the Cassette® forms the basis of the balcony and has oversized holes to receive the steel arms (cast into the building) when the Cassette® is craned into position. Using the latest offsite production techniques, Cassettes® are delivered preassembled, including glass balustrades, decking, soffits and fascia. They are factory finished to a high quality standard so on site works are kept to an absolute minimum – saving time and cost for contractors and developers. As part of a bespoke specification, Cassettes® for Green Man Lane incorporate positive drainage to a rainwater pipe.
One lifted into position, the Cassettes® simply ‘glide’ on to the pre-erected brackets, before completing the simple mechanical fixings. Construction Manager for main contractor, Rydon Construction Ltd, says Sapphire’s balcony innovation made sequencing and programming much easier and the rapid install method saved a lot of time. “And once installed, the finished result looks really great,” he says. “Having experienced the many benefits of Sapphire Cassette® balconies at Green Man Lane, we shan’t be going back to the old way!”
With health and safety on site always a top priority for Sapphire, a temporary guardrail system was used to provide edge protection for the fitting team as they installed cassettes in a row to form each balcony run. This procedure required extreme accuracy to ensure the steel arms were correctly set out and the Cassettes® aligned precisely to create a clean, continuous line of glass.
Sapphire’s Cassette® balcony system offers a simple, fast and cost-effective balcony solution for high-rise residential projects. The pioneering solution has been extensively tested and developed, resulting in a well proven system which has approximately 60 components protected with registered designs/patents. It can be used in a wide range of applications including projecting, inset, or continuous ‘terrace style’ balconies like those at Green Man Lane.
