Glass and glazing trends vary from country to country. In Europe, for example, double-glazed facades are quite common, while in Australia, glass railings and balustrades can be seen on many homes, condos and hotel projects. In addition to balcony and patio railings, glass walls surrounding pools are also growing in popularity in Australia.

“[Large-scale], frameless, glass pool walls are at the top end of the affordability scale,” said Vince Bianchini with Cooling Brothers, an Australian glass company located in High Wycombe, Western Australia. “There is an increasing trend for glass pool windows, which our company engineers, supplies and installs on a regular basis.”

In one recent project, Cooling Brothers manufactured, supplied and installed the stainless steel channel and tempered laminated glass, constructed with DuPont’s SentryGlass Plus, for the glass pool wall at Tower 4 Burswood Complex located in Burswood, Western Australia.

Bianchini explained that Cooling Brothers was invited onto the project by the Mirvac Pty Ltd., the project builder.

“The original design concept had very large, stainless steel, up-right support posts in between each panel of glass,” he said. “Due to a previous domestic pool wall job spanning 16 meters long, which our company had completed 18 months prior, we were able to offer a truly frameless glass pool wall, which was the original [design] intent.”

Bianchini adds that they worked with Bill Smalley from Scott Smalley Partnership as its engineering consultant. Together the team re-designed and engineered the frameless glass wall.

The project incorporates four panels approximately 2,000 mm high by 2,500 mm long constructed of 32-mm tempered, laminated glass with polished edges.

“Due to the weight of the glass panels weighing in excess of 450 kg (approximately 992 pounds) logistics of lifting, crainage and glazing were factors we had to overcome,” Bianchini said, who added that the work was completed in stages.

“The stainless steel channel was cast into the concrete shell of the pool. Following this the glazing occurred several months later, followed by the waterproofing and silicone seal required,” he said.

Cooling Brothers says it helped achieve the goal of the project, which was to provide the swimming pool area with an uninterrupted glass wall that would serve as the focal point for the development’s entry.