Glass Furniture
Glass is now a very fashionable and popular element of interior design and an integral part of interesting furniture solutions. When designing furniture with glass elements, the appearance and visual effects of glass offering different colours and translucency are taken into consideration. Apart from aesthetics, glass properties are also key, among which - in the case of glass in furniture - should be mentioned first of all - easy maintenance, cleanliness and safety of use. Furniture designers looking for glass with the afore-mentioned properties choose such products as extra clear glass, translucent glass, laminated glass with tinted interlayers or enamelled glass.
The use of Pilkington Optiwhite™ extra clear glass and Pilkington Optifloat™ Opal matt translucent glass allows you to create neutral-looking furniture. Pilkington Optiwhite™ has a low iron content and thus leaves no characteristic greenish hue. This gives you the opportunity to faithfully reproduce the colours and patterns exposed behind or under the glass pane. The inherent green shade for clear float glass is particularly evident on the glass edges of thicker glass, which are usually exposed in most glass furniture. In such cases, the use of extra clear glass, which does not have the green shade, is ideal. The colour neutrality here can be combined with the original shape of the furniture, as Pilkington Optiwhite™ glass can be bent without compromising its optical properties.
Pilkington Optifloat™ Opal has a matt, translucent effect that fits virtually any piece of furniture. This effect is achieved in the process of acid-etching one of the surfaces of the glass This type of glass maintains a high light transmission and softens surface reflections, creating a subtle finish of furniture. For the safety and strength of Pilkington Optiwhite™ and Pilkington Optifloat™ Opal, both products can be toughened and laminated.
If furniture designers prefer stronger colours and patterns, they may consider using Pilkington Optilam™ I Colour, a laminated glass with a tinted interlayer, Pilkington Enamelled Glass or Pilkington Design Glass. With a wide choice of interlayer colours, Pilkington Optilam™ I Colour provides interesting design effects, while ensuring safety at the same time. A wide range of colours is also available in Pilkington Enamelled Glass and Pilkington Design Glass. Both products are available in most of colours from the RAL palette. Furniture designers appreciate not only the aesthetic qualities of enamelled and design glass, but also safety in use, resulting from the production process involves subjecting the glass to toughening, increasing its strength.