 Spandrel glass is used to prevent materials or construction elements from being viewed from the exterior of a building. The primary function of spandrel glass is to cover non-visible areas including the areas between floors, hung ceiling areas, knee-wall areas below vision lights, and sometimes even columns or partitions.
Spandrel glass is designed to mask vision through the structural areas of a building such as between floors and columns. Spandrel glass is widely used in curtain wall projects, where it provides non-transparence with high safety and resistance to corrosion.
Spandrel glass must be heat treated to avoid thermal stress breakage. Solar Seal Spandrel Glass is lead-free and contains no organic solvents and can be handled at any stage without fear of personal or environmental harm.
Fired-on frit method
Spandrel is created using fired-on frit methods in which a ceramic frit is applied to annealed glass and then tempered to fuse the frit with the glass. The result is a non-vision glass panel that does not fade. As this glass is heat-treated during the manufacturing process, it supplies adequate resistance to thermal stresses. This glass can also be insulated to increase its thermal performance.
In addition, spandrel is up to five times stronger than annealed glass. Thus, spandrel glass is ideal for industrial buildings. In fact, most modern buildings incorporate spandrel if a smooth finish is desired.
Spandrel Glass with Intense Heating Methods
Spandrel Glass is a heat-processed glass with ceramic frit permanently fused to the surface of the glass. Since it is tempered or heat-strengthened glass, spandrel glass is two to five times stronger than annealed glass and more resistant to uniform loading pressures and thermal stresses.
Due to the fact that spandrel is created using intense heating methods, this glass is particularly resistant to thermal conditions. In addition to attributing to the uniform appearance of a building, spandrel can also be used to supply specific areas of a building with heat, since it has excellent thermal capabilities. Various industrial buildings have been lined with spandrel in order to trap and maintain solar heat. This method has been proved effective, and is used all over the globe.
Opacity
Spandrel can be manufactured to satisfy both opacity and the criteria for fallout protection. Spandrel glass uses ceramic frit, silicone coatings or polyester film applied to the glass in order to render it opaque. The application of the ceramic frit to the glass surface is achieved by conveying the glass under a rubber application roller. The application of the frit to the glass surface results in striations from the roll that is highly visible when viewing the glass in transmission.
Opaque spandrel glass may be used to accent areas of the façade or to maintain uniformity between vision and spandrel areas with solar control / reflective coated glass. Spandrel glass is rendered opaque with a water based lead-free opacifier. It is typically used to conceal areas from direct viewing such as between the floors of a high-rise building in order to mask wires, piping, insulation etc
Aesthetic Purpose
In addition to being entirely durable, spandrel glass can also be used in an aesthetically appealing way. Spandrel is commonly used between certain sections of a building including the area between floors, columns, ceilings, and other small or large spaces.
The main aesthetic purpose of spandrel glass is to create an overall uniform appearance. By using colored glass panels, spandrel glass can match most other types of glass that are used to crate a glass-front building. When the color of all glass pieces is observed, it is nearly impossible to tell where one section of a building begins and ends.
Aesthetically, it can be applied in two ways. One is to contrast the appearance of the vision panels through the use of color, while another is to match it with the vision area, so that from the outside the structure maintains a uniform glass skin making it virtually impossible to distinguish where the start and finish of the window and wall.
When trying to create an exterior uniform appearance colors and the optical properties of the vision area glass must be considered. As for the different lighting conditions behind the spandrel and other factors, it is practically impossible to obtain a perfect match; however paying attention to details usually produces greater uniformity.
Spandrel glass is available in numerous shades ranging from green to bronze. Metal-flecked spandrel can also be acquired from certain retailers. The color of spandrel that is chosen is particularly important, since the color will affect the overall appearance of the building that it is applied to. When carefully matched with similar colors, spandrel becomes the ideal option for all types of buildings.
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