FAST DELIVERY - LOW COST - EVERYTHING CALCULATED FOR YOU
Glass specification
What Type of Glass Should You Use for a Glass Partition?
A glass partition should not be made from ordinary thin window glass. The glass needs to be suitable for a full-height internal screen, safe if somebody collides with it, and thick enough for the size of the panels being used.
For our partition systems, the standard choice is 10mm toughened safety glass. Taller partitions require 12mm toughened glass, while 12.8mm acoustic laminate is available where sound reduction is a more important part of the specification.
Why Glass Partitions Need Safety Glass
Full-height glass partitions are normally installed in areas where people can walk directly alongside them, and they often include glass doors. That puts substantial areas of the glazing within the critical locations covered by safety-glazing guidance.
Approved Document K to the Building Regulations in England requires glazing in critical locations to provide safe breakage or sufficient robustness. In practice, toughened and laminated glass are the normal safety-glass types used for large internal partitions and doors.
Toughened glass is heat treated so that, if it breaks, it disintegrates into relatively small pieces rather than breaking into the large sharp shards associated with ordinary annealed glass. Laminated glass uses an interlayer that helps hold broken glass together.
Our standard toughened partition glass is safety glass to BS EN 12600.
This does not make the partition fire rated. Standard National Glass Partitions systems are not fire-rated partitions.
Why We Do Not Use Thin Glass for Full-Height Partitions
Glass thickness is not chosen simply on appearance. A full-height partition panel may be well over two metres high and can weigh tens of kilograms, so stiffness, panel size and handling all become important.
Thinner glass flexes more readily over a large unsupported area. That may be suitable for smaller glazing in an appropriate frame, but it is not how our full-height partition system is designed.
Our calculator therefore standardises the system around 10mm toughened glass for normal partition heights. Above 2600mm, 10mm is no longer offered and 12mm toughened glass is required.
The calculator also limits standard individual panel width to 1100mm. Wider openings are divided into additional panels rather than simply producing one very wide sheet of glass.
Need Made-to-Measure Glass Only?
If you only need the glass rather than a complete partition system, see our glass cut to size range for made-to-measure panels.
Which Thickness Should You Use?
Standard
10mm Toughened
The standard choice for most glass partitions up to 2600mm high. It gives a practical balance of stiffness, weight and handling for made-to-measure internal screens.
Taller partitions
12mm Toughened
Required by our system above 2600mm. The additional thickness increases stiffness, but also increases weight, so taller panels become more demanding to handle.
Sound-sensitive rooms
12.8mm Acoustic Laminate
Available where sound reduction matters more. It is laminated rather than toughened and should be considered as part of the complete partition, including the door type.
| Glass | Typical NGP use | Approx. weight |
|---|---|---|
| 10mm toughened | Standard partition glass up to 2600mm | Approx. 25kg/m² |
| 12mm toughened | Required above 2600mm | Approx. 30kg/m² |
| 12.8mm acoustic laminate | Where greater sound reduction is required | Approx. 30kg/m² |
Toughened Glass or Laminated Glass?
Both can be used as safety glazing, but they behave differently.
Toughened glass is heat treated to increase its strength and change the way it breaks. It is the normal choice for our standard glass partitions and glass doors.
Laminated glass consists of layers bonded with an interlayer. If it breaks, the interlayer helps retain the fragments. Acoustic laminate also uses laminated construction to help reduce sound transmission through the glass.
There is no reason to specify acoustic laminate simply because it sounds like the more substantial option. If sound reduction is not a significant requirement, standard toughened glass is normally the more appropriate choice for our system.
When Does Acoustic Laminate Make Sense?
Acoustic laminate is most relevant to rooms where reducing the transmission of conversation or general office noise is an important part of the brief.
But the glass is only one part of the partition. A frameless glass door has gaps around the leaf, so sound can pass through those openings regardless of the glass used in the fixed panels.
For that reason, we do not supply 12.8mm acoustic laminate with a frameless door. Where acoustic laminate is required, a framed door is the more appropriate choice because the door closes onto a rebate.
We do not quote a single sound-reduction figure for a complete partition because performance depends on the glass, door, perimeter construction and installation.
Why Not Use Ordinary Annealed Glass?
Ordinary annealed glass does not have the same safe-breakage behaviour as toughened glass or the fragment-retention characteristics of laminated glass.
Building Regulations can permit annealed glazing in certain circumstances where the pane size, thickness and support provide sufficient robustness. That does not make thin annealed glass a suitable substitute for a large full-height made-to-measure partition panel.
National Glass Partitions therefore supplies its partition systems around appropriate safety-glass specifications rather than asking customers to decide whether a thinner pane may technically fall within an exception.
Do You Need a Standard Panel Size?
For simpler projects where a standard panel size works, we also supply fixed-size glass panels.
Glass Doors Need the Same Care
A full glass door is another large piece of safety-critical glazing. Our standard leaves are manufactured from suitable safety glass and are made with any required holes or cut-outs before manufacture is completed.
Toughened glass cannot be cut, drilled or altered afterwards. This is why the door hardware and any required lock cut-outs need to be decided before the glass is made.
Let the Calculator Apply the Glass Rules
Enter the finished opening dimensions and choose the door and glass options. The calculator prevents incompatible combinations, changes the available glass where height requires it, and works out the individual panel sizes for the system.
Configure & See Your Price