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Laminated Glass

laminated glass

Laminated glass is a popular type of safety glass, holding together in the event of breakage – available in a range of colours and thicknesses.

As reliable laminated glass suppliers, we can provide laminated glass for projects both big and small at Express Glass Warehouse.

Depending on your requirements, EGW can manufacture laminated glass cut to size to suit your every need. This includes any shape or size, with glass thicknesses ranging from 6.4mm to 12.8mm.

Not only can you find a tailor-made solution here, but you can also purchase the necessary glass fixtures and fittings to complete your project, making us your one-stop-shop glass experts.

For more information, call 020 8500 1188, or submit your details online to request a quote

What does laminated glass do?

While acoustic laminated glass targets noise pollution, the job of regular laminated glass is mainly to protect against physical force and the breakage that usually results from such impacts. A single pane of glass would simply shatter into shards, posing a danger to everyone around.

It takes a larger amount of force exerted on laminated glass to crack or break the pane, and in the rare event that this happens, it won’t shatter everywhere. The special interlayer will hold the pane together, keeping the pieces in place for optimum safety and security. 

What are the benefits of laminated glass?

  • Extremely difficult to break; the inner plastic layer can hold shattered glass together
  • Ideal where security glass is required as a high impact barrier, such as shopfronts
  • Can be used for walk-on glass flooring or stair treads, glass balustrades, and Juliet balconies.
  • Better at keeping noise out and keeping heat in than standard single-layer glass

Additionally, laminated glass is highly customisable. We can provide a range of thicknesses from 6.4mm to 12.8mm, with the following types of finish:

  • Clear
  • Soft Coat
  • Diffused
  • Grey
  • Bronze
  • Acoustic

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Laminated Glass FAQs

Toughened glass and laminated glass are terms that can be used interchangeably, but they aren’t always the same thing. While toughened glass is a sheet of tempered glass that’s strengthened through rapid heating and cooling, laminated glass is two sheets of glass with an interlayer between them. These panels are often standard annealed glass, though toughened glass can also be used.

A single pane of toughened glass can withstand many impacts, but if it does shatter, it will fall into pebble-sized pieces. This is safer than razor-sharp shards, but it still leaves an open gap where the glass pane was. Laminated glass, on the other hand, will be held together by the interlayer even if one or both panes shatter, maintaining the sealed barrier within the frame until it can be replaced.

While toughened glass (BS EN 12150) is known as safety glass due to its ability to break into small blunt pebbles, laminated glass (BS EN 14449) is more often known as security glass, as it helps to prevent break-ins. This is why you’ll often find laminated glass in shops, banks, and leisure facilities. It’s also a type of safety glass, but laminated safety glass is heavier than toughened glass.

In the world of laminated glass, the interlayer is the sheet of material that’s effectively sandwiched between two panes of glass. This transparent film bonds the panes together like a superglue, which then holds them in place even if they crack under impact or break into smaller pieces. The laminated glass will remain in position long enough to manufacture and fit replacement glass panels.

The most popular type of laminated glass interlayer is PVB (polyvinyl butyral). Under pressure and heat during the manufacturing process, the glass adheres strongly to the PVB interlayer on each side. When an impact strikes the laminated panel, the interlayer also acts like a thin cushion, dissipating the energy to reduce the force on the glass panel and preventing it from breaking apart.

For extra safety, this interlayer construction can also utilise tempered glass. Forming toughened laminated glass, this type is even stronger and safer. In situations where noise-reducing glass is required, it can also be used with thicker acoustic-graded glass for sound insulation.

Laminated glass is known for close-to-unbreakable properties, sandwiching a bonding interlayer between two layers of toughened glass. This construction makes it safer, because it won’t break into sharp shards on impact, but it also provides more barriers that external sound has to travel through.

Offering more insulation than single-layer tempered glass, it muffles most sounds that would come right through standard glass. For the best possible sound absorption, you’ll need more than regular lamination. Upgrading to specially designed acoustic laminated glass improves the noise reduction.

This type of glass is laminated using a PVB (polyvinyl butyral) interlayer, which enhances sound insulation without affecting impact resistance or light transmission. This layer both reflects and absorbs sound vibrations to stop them from passing through, and also improves thermal efficiency.