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Lacquered Glass for Innovative Interior Design

Lacquered Glass for Interior Designs
Lacquered Glass for Interior Designs

Though the profession of interior designing is only a 100 years old, history bears testimony to its existence even during the time of the ancient Egyptians who furnished their native mud homes with simple textiles, animal skins, painted urns, and graphic murals. Back in the days, architects doubled up as interior designers to complete their vision. The dawn of interior designing was to rigidly coordinate it with the architecture of buildings. Then, with the 17th CE, the task of interior designing was relegated to the homemaker soon to be taken over by a skilled upholsterer or craftsman in the early 19th CE. And interior designing as we know it today is a separate profession altogether where specialists help people to maximise the efficiency of their space with elements, textures, and colours that enhance their visual appeal.

Interior Designing: Décor that Enhances Life

Gone are those days when interior designing was considered to be a pompous expression for good tastes in decoration – choosing the right colours, patterns, and fabrics. Modern-day interior designing is all that and much more where form and function are taken as a whole – the one dependent on the other – to create meaningful and highly optimised personal and commercial spaces.

In case of personal spaces, the aim is to create interiors that tell the story of the residents without sacrificing on basic and individual functional requirements. Smart interior designing can mean the difference between a house and a home, an environment that is cold and lifeless and one that is comfortable and full of warmth and familiarity.

Breathe New Life into Your Interiors with Lacquered Glass

To create interiors that are a reflection of you and your loved ones without compromising on being progressive and timeless, choose lacquered glass as your one-stop-source. Lacquered glass is a type of modern-day glass innovation in which one of the glass surfaces is painted with high-quality lacquer followed by a process of oven-curing to lock in its unique features. The resulting glass is not only smooth, glossy, and coloured in appearance, but also opaque.

Lacquered glass is not only a treat to the eyes but is also highly functional – It is low-maintenance, UV, heat, and humidity-resistant, durable and long-lasting, and can be processed in a wide number of ways.

There’s a lacquered glass for every homeowner out there. To find out the one that suits your tastes, here are a few innovative ways to include lacquered glass in your interiors –

For the Heart of Your Home

When it comes to designing the most important space of your home – the kitchen where all the magic takes place, lacquered glass is your one-stop-source both in terms of aesthetics and functionality. The fluid and glossy visual feel of glass when coupled with the vibrant colours of lacquer can be installed in kitchen crockery units, counter-tops, backsplash, and wall panelling to create the kitchen of your dreams. Whether you’re a minimalist, a traditionalist, a classicist, or a modernist; lacquered glass aesthetic solutions can be customised to your needs. Opt for warm, pastels and nude tones for a light, airy, and uncluttered look or alternate with a pop of bold shades of orange, yellow, and red to radiate an eclectic vibe. You can even choose a single colour palette for your kitchen cabinets while choosing royal metallic shades for your kitchen island and backsplash to create an ambience of grandeur and royalty. You can even have magnetic lacquered glass marker boards installed in your kitchen to jot down mom’s delectable traditional recipes.

Furthermore, since lacquered glass is scratch, humidity, and heat-resistant, and easy to clean, you have nothing to fear when it comes to installing it in a space that frequently experiences heat and moisture. Plus, allow the kids to make a mess while they help you in your baking projects!

For Your ‘Safe Space’

If there is any room in the house where the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign works without having to put it on the door, it’s the bathroom. It is a safe haven for many, where the stresses of the day can be washed off and a moment of solitude and contemplation can be experienced. In this sense, a bathroom becomes more than just another room. Your sacred space requires an ambience that sets the tone for peace. Accenting the bathroom design with scented candles, artwork, and pairing towels and toiletries goes a long way in achieving that aura but it is equally important to choose a colour theme that is relaxing. And what could be better than the vibrant world of lacquered glass! You can opt for darker shades of greens and earthy browns or pastels and nudes – both works equally well in creating a calming ambience. You can even get it installed in panels of different sizes and shapes (monotones or motley of colours) for a more fun look. And since lacquered glass is moisture-resistant, you need not worry about installing it in a space where humidity is the norm. Moreover, the smooth, glossy look of glass will bestow the right touch of modernism!

For the Space that Strengthens Bonds

With lacquered glass, the sky is the limit. For taking the oomph factor of your living rooms a notch up, lacquered glass is the ideal option. After all, it’s the space where guests are entertained and friends and family gather together to spend most of their at-home time and hence, is a highly important space in terms of decoration. You can have lacquered wall panels in dark and sleek shades in your living room and even have the television installed in it as lacquered glass can be drilled in. Just make sure to choose colours that are not too bold and do not divert your attention away from the television. Even table-tops can be installed with stunning shades of lacquered glass for a modernistic and chic visual appeal. Plus, since lacquered glass is durable and low-maintenance, there is no need to fear spill-overs during family movie nights. Lacquered glass wall panels can even be used to create a clear demarcation of the living space from the dining space in style. Among other intriguing installations, magnetic lacquered glass marker boards can also be installed to write down important reminders and allow kids to explore their inner-Picasso.

For Your Cosy Haven

According to Feng Shui, the room that is the most important in your home is the one in which you remain unconscious for a good part of the time – your bedroom. Well, for one sleep is vital and hence the space where you sleep must have an ambience that promotes healthy and deep sleep. Moreover, for most people, their bedrooms are the one space they get to call their own and where they can relax after their minds and bodies have been overworked from the chaos of everyday living. Well, adding extra cosy touches to your bedroom is all about accepting the Danish concept of hygge marked by candle lights, soothing textures, four-poster ultra-cosy beds, quilted throw pillows, and ofcourse a calm and neutral colour scheme. To keep the look warm, cosy, and progressive, lacquered glass panels can help you out. Choose calm pastel tones in combination with either of the extremes – whites and beige or black – and witness how your personal hygge culture unfolds right in front of your eyes. Moreover, you can even have lacquered glass floor-to-ceiling cupboards installed in your bedroom – The super glossy finish ad natural reflective property of glass will create a stunning effect that blends trend with elegance.

So you see, lacquered glass can breathe life into each and every one of your living spaces. To make the most of this 360-degree aesthetic glass solution, look no further than AIS Glass! Our AIS Décor can enhance your spaces with its smooth finish and 34 striking shades. Plus, it is high on functionality – AIS Décor is highly durable, long-lasting, heat, UV, and humidity-resistant, low-maintenance, 100% eco-friendly, and is available in a wide variety of processing options. So, without second thoughts, choose décor that enhances life with AIS Décor! Get in touch today.

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Emerging Concepts in Glass Architectural Building

Glass no more exists to provide transparency alone. You can also use it to diffuse light by purchasing a variant that is translucent or tinted. Secondly, that glass is weak and shatters on contact is now a myth. Of course, glass is not as strong as concrete or steel, but modern innovations have provided it with a substantial amount of strength, which was not the case before. There are many emerging variants of this material that can be used in renovating or constructing properties. Our list here can act as your starter kit for understanding the multifaceted nature of this stellar material.

If you are planning to reinvent your home or office and want to add a sense of openness to that space, then glass is the right material for you! A tonne of spatial innovation is possible if you know which type of glass does what and where it can be used best.  

Switchable/Smart Glass

This elegant material just got more attractive! Smart glass uses modern-day technology to switch from opaque to transparent or vice versa. This type of glass can alternate the light transmitting through it by passing an electric current through it. While manufacturing smart glass, a film of liquid crystals in introduced to the pane which is sensitive to electrical current. With just the push of a button, this glass turns transparent.

The applications of such a product are manifold. It’s predominantly used for creating privacy and can be utilised in making partitions and/or windows at offices, hospitals and houses. It also works as electronic curtains providing privacy when needed.

Highly-Reflective Glass

This awe-inspiring variant is what gives modern-day glass skyscrapers their visual appeal. But that is not all; this variant is exceptional at sun control and reflects away a considerable amount of heat. Highly-reflective glass has a unique metallic coating on it which cuts off solar heat. This coating also provides a slight mirror-like effect on the glass’ surface. Ever wondered why the sky reflects so clearly on these gorgeous glass offices? It is because of this coating on the surface of ordinary glass, making it highly reflective.

Since this variant does not absorb much heat, it makes any structure very energy-efficient. This glass has maximum applications in office complexes. Employees working inside these structures get a beautiful view of their external surroundings along with ample daylight, but the people outside are unable to look inside.

Lacquered Glass

Imagine a coloured wall made of glass. Lacquered glass is a back-painted glass variant which is available in countless colours and designs. This type of glass has a silky and fluidic appeal to it. Lacquering is achieved by coating one side with high-quality paints followed by an oven-curing process to lock in its unique features. Apart from the ornamental benefits, this coating also provides a great deal of strength to the glass, making it very durable and long-lasting. This type of glass requires zero-maintenance and is excellent for dealing with wet and humid surroundings. Lacquered glass has fantastic applications in turning your bathroom and kitchen into nothing less than a work of art. Use it to build bathroom walls, shower stalls, kitchen drawers or cabinets and rest assured that this variant won’t let you down.

Frosted or Acid-Etched Glass

This is a beneficial variant that allows for pristine light diffusion, thus, amplifying the elegance of any room it’s used in. Frosted glass is manufactured by taking a transparent sheet of glass and purposely blasting it with sand or by using acid for etching on it. The surface of this variant is not clear but rather translucent which allows for light to smoothly diffuse around it. The light scatters on this surface which obscures visibility.

This type of glass is mostly used in skylights, bedroom doors, office cabins and bathrooms. Talking further about skylights; solar rays can usher in aggressively during the morning time. The frosted glass used in skylight windows turns the harsh solar rays into gentle diffused ones.

Toughened Glass

This is a type of safety glass manufactured via a process in which standard glass is toughened through chemical or thermal tempering. It is desired mainly because of its durability, impact-resistance and safety. Even on rare occasions when toughened glass succumbs to an external impact, it does not shatter into sharp shards unlike standard glass but into small, blunt, pebble-like pieces incapable of causing injuries. This variant can be used on the ceiling-to-floor French windows or tall balcony doors. It also has wide applications in exhibition areas and window displays.

Contemporary glass skyscrapers have overwhelmed onlookers. Various high-profile residential dwellings, for instance, the renowned Ambani home called ‘Antilia’, have learned to harness this material at its very best. Invest in this great material by visiting AIS Glass today! We are leading India’s glass innovation by manufacturing glass solutions that cater to all aesthetic and functional needs. Step into the world of AIS Glass and step out with innovative solutions for all your glass-related needs! Get in touch today.

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Different Applications of Mirror Glass

Different Applications of Mirror Glass
Different Applications of Mirror Glass

For all of us, mirrors are fundamental grooming aids, but that is not the only benefit they provide. They also act as vital decoration tools that transform spaces and provide a sense of openness. You can set a lively and cheery mood in any room with the help of mirrors decorated tastefully. Mirrors have been a part of the human lifestyle since ancient times. The Greeks, Egyptians and Romans used handheld polished metal mirrors thousands of years ago. Mirrors made of glass came with the Venetians. They were the pioneers of casting glass into sheets and then silvering those sheets into mirror panes.  

The Science behind Mirror Glass

Mirrors are nothing but clear glass panes metallically coated on one side with either aluminium or silver that renders them reflective. This process is called silvering. The metallic coat is usually applied in multiple layers on a float glass pane. The manufacturing process of mirror glass begins with smoothening and flattening the glass’ surface before applying metal coatings of uniform thickness on the inner side of the surface. These coatings have to be applied very carefully because if even one layer of the coating ends up being thicker than the rest, the mirror will either make you look fatter or thinner, or stretched out. If the silvering is too thin, you will be able to see through to the other side of the mirror. This is how one-sided mirrors are made.

Types of Mirrors

Mirrors are an affordable way to enhance the beauty of any space. They light up any room they are placed inside. Mirror glass is readily available in three major types. They are listed below for your quick reference –

Plane Mirrors –These are the most commonly used flat mirrors that reflect an object or a person situated in front of them in normal proportions and reversed from left to right. Plane mirrors are used by all of us daily in our bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, etc.

Convex Mirrors – These mirrors are spherical and bulge out slightly, distorting the image placed in front of them by making it look smaller. Convex mirrors are used in sunglasses, telescopes, roads with blind curves, etc.

Concave Mirrors – These mirrors are also spherical, however, unlike convex mirrors, they curve inward like a spoon. Convex mirrors make an image look larger, and are typically found in make-up and shaving mirrors, etc.   

Varied Mirror Glass Applications

Mirror or mirror glass has a wealth of applications and they are not all aesthetic. Let us look at how mirrors in different shapes, sizes, thickness and brightness have diverse applications – 

Ornamental Applications

Clear mirrors reflect a lot of light, to the extent of visually doubling the size of a room. This is a great benefit for people living in metropolises with limited square footage. You can place a couple of full-length mirrors on the walls of your cramped corridor. Mirrors also work beautifully as a masthead behind your bed, as opposed to putting up paintings that do nothing to open up space. Interior decorators love working with mirrors rightly so. You can yourself carry out a small experiment with mirrors to gauge its impact. Place a couple of floor-length mirrors at the entrance and other important corners of your home and see the space transform.

Safety Applications

Countless lives are made safer and more functional with the help of rear-view and side-view mirrors used in cars and two-wheelers that protect drivers, riders as well as passengers from accidents. Road safety is a major concern in India and automotive mirrors go a long way in making our streets safer. Security personnel also occasionally use mirrors to supervise hard to reach areas inside a parking lot or garage. Another safety application of mirror glass is in the form of lenses in your sunshades that protect you from retinal damage when you step out in the sun.        

Textile Applications

Fashion designers and merchandisers use mirrors to gauge their designs from all angles simultaneously. This helps them assess the practicality and overall impact of the garment. All apparel retailers affix three-way mirrors inside trial rooms so that customers can accurately evaluate how well a piece of clothing fits them. Small mirror pieces are also stitched into clothing to give it a more ethnic appeal. Mirrors are cut into different shapes and stuck onto skirts, tops, dresses, etc. and are very popular among buyers.      

Scientific Applications

Mirrors and lenses when combined are used in magnification technologies. For instance, all telescopes used to study celestial bodies, or keep an eye on new species of birds and animals require high-quality mirrors to function in tandem. Mirrors help scientists evaluate and investigate objects that are at a great distance and not visible to the naked eye.  

The Bottom Line

Whatever your aesthetic or scientific goals may be, mirror glass will surely find an application within them. High-quality mirrors, especially made by leading glass manufacturers like AIS Glass have copper-free coatings, are resistant to corrosion and are eco-friendly. We also offer tinted mirrors that carry high optical clarity and are available in several colours, sizes and thicknesses. Our team of professionally-trained experts are equipped to provide you with end-to-end solutions with quick turnaround time. So, get in touch with us today!

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Advantages of Using Toughened Glass in an Office Space

Advantages of Toughened Glass in an Office Space
Advantages of Toughened Glass in an Office Space

Toughened glass, also called tempered glass boasts a wealth of diverse applications. Be it oven and microwave doors, laboratory equipment, indoor partitions, etc. Toughened safety glass provides top-notch structural strength and safety. Have you ever wondered, how toughen glass gains its strength and durability? It is a man-made phenomenon and not a naturally occurring one. Let us understand the secret behind the structural strength of tempered glass.

The Science behind Toughened Glass

Toughened glass is made from ordinary float glass panes that undergo the process of annealing or heat tempering. Pre-cut float glass panels are passed through a roller table inside a 650°C preheated furnace. This softens the panes and takes them beyond their transmission temperature. The outside surface of the glass cools more rapidly than the inner surface. This leads to “centre tension” in the glass pane that alters its physical characteristics permanently.

The end-product is a sheet of heat-tempered glass capable of withstanding higher temperatures and is four to five times stronger than ordinary float glass. Float glass must be cut to size or bent into the desired shape before going through the annealing process. Glass panes that undergo the toughening process cannot be re-worked on.

Advantages of Toughened Glass in an Office Space 

The advantages of toughened glass outweigh the ones provided by ordinary glass panes. In shared spaces like offices, you need to use materials that are easy to maintain, award a sense of openness, and usher in oodles of natural light. Toughened glass checks all three boxes. Let us understand the benefits of tempered glass in detail.

Strength and Safety

People scuttle more frequently inside offices. A constant hustle of personnel moving around, rushing to attend meetings is common, which is why safety is key among all the rush and shove. One of the best things about toughened glass is that it does not shatter into sharp and jagged pieces upon impact. Even if someone walks into a pane or it breaks due to unforeseeable circumstances, people around it will not get hurt. Tempered glass is great for office cabins and dividers because it breaks into blunt pebble-like pieces and cannot cause serious injuries to employees.

Toughened glass is also a great solution for the exterior of office façades. Heat tempering provides glass panes undulating strength to combat rigorous environmental conditions, especially at higher altitudes. This is why several high-rise office buildings and skyscrapers are built using toughened glass.

Heat and Moisture-Resistant

Ordinary annealed glass can crack or shatter if exposed to unwarranted temperature differentials causing sharp shards of glass to sprawl all across your office floor. This can be perilous for your staff members. Toughened glass, on the other hand, is specifically designed to reliably endure extreme temperatures and humidity. You can use them inside your shared office bathrooms and windows. No amount of rain or heat will cause these panels to crack. They are resistant to thermal breakage and can last for years on end.

Easy to Maintain

In an office setting, from furniture to furnishings, everything needs to be ready for rough and frequent usage, and toughened glass is solidly up to the task. Tempered glass panels do not collect dust or grime, are scratch proof, and are very easy to maintain. Your janitorial staff can simply wipe them once or twice a week with a soft, damp cloth and they will keep shining like a new penny. You can also choose to give toughened glass panels a thorough soapy water wash once every six months but that is not an absolute necessity. Hire a professional window cleaning company to take care of your exterior tempered glass windows.   

Scratch-Resistant

Scratches on glass windows kill the aesthetic charm of a glass structure. Since tempered glass is tough, it is far less likely to scratch as compared to standard float glass. This property of tempered glass comes in handy, especially during dust storms when unwanted debris can scratch your windows. Toughened glass is ideal for office partitions, cabins, cubicles, conference table-tops, bathroom and pantry furnishings, etc.   

Design Diversity

Toughened glass can be combined with various styles and designs to set the correct tone inside your office. For example, you can choose from a range of frosted, translucent, back painted and clear glass panels for different rooms that serve different purposes in your office. Back painted toughened glass can make your office noticeably edgier, whereas frosted toughened glass can enhance privacy during important meetings. These design diversities can address all design as well as performance concerns in your office.

The Bottom Line

Toughened glass is the ideal choice for offices, with so many legit applications and advantages. Get toughened glass professionally installed by AIS Glass. We at AIS Glass offer a superior-quality toughened glass called Stronglas. Stronglas is adept at withstanding harsh weather conditions, is safe, durable and less prone to thermal breakage. Enjoy the best of toughened glass with AIS Glass. Get in touch today!

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5 Stylish Ways to Use Window Glass in Your Offices

Ways to Use Window Glass in Your Offices
Ways to Use Window Glass in Your Offices

The fenestration system you choose for your office can significantly impact its utility costs and the overall aesthetic appeal. There are a wide variety of window types that can decorate the walls of your office, depending on how willing you are to explore your options. However, before choosing a particular type of window, it is important to know the most commonly used types of window glass.

Types of Window Glass

Windows are responsible for ushering in natural light. They can offer sunlight without any of the heat, glare or street noise if coupled with the right kind of glass. This quick reference guide will help you to understand the kinds of window glass available for your office.    

Laminated Safety Glass

This glass is extra strong and is manufactured by fusing two panes around an inner layer of PVB (Polyvinyl Butyral). This special inner layer does not allow the glass to shatter into sharp jagged panes. Laminated safety glass is tough and very hard to break. This type of glass is used in skyscrapers and high-rises where wind pressures can be torrid.

Tempered Glass

Tempered glass, also called toughened safety glass is at least four to five times stronger than float glass. This type of window glass is manufactured through a heat tempering process that provides it with undulating strength and durability. Tempered glass is widely used in office windows, doors, partitions, etc.

Insulated Glass

Insulated glass is responsible for thermal comfort. It also makes an office building more energy-efficient providing it with superior sustainability. Insulated panes are a terrific choice for exterior window glass as they keep you warm in winters and cool during summers.

Acoustic Glass

This type of window glass is greatly helpful in muffling street noises that can otherwise cause anxiety and thwart productivity. Acoustic glass is great for soundproofing your windows and can reduce outside commotion by almost 90%.

5 Stylish Window Designs for Offices

Now that you know about the types of window glass on offer, it’s time to decide the design of your office windows. Choose one or more from this list of window designs that match your design sensibilities the most –

Fixed windows

These are one of the simplest yet most popular types of windows used to complete office structures. Fixed windows cannot be opened or closed. The glass panes are static and the ventilation for offices in such cases is done through air-conditioning vents. Since these windows do not open or close, they provide the office interiors exceptional energy-efficiency, when coupled with insulated glass. Fixed windows are also weather-proof since they do not allow rain, dust and humidity to pass through.

Sliding French Windows

These windows look great and provide a sense of openness to an office space. Sliding French windows can be opened and closed with ease, can be installed in various sizes and lengths. They will usher in more natural light into your workspace as opposed to fixed windows. If your office is small, you can save up on space by installing sliding windows that do not eat up extra room space when opened.

Pivoting Windows

A pivoting window rotates on a central fixed axis and allows the window to open from either side. These kinds of windows have an old-world charm to them and can bring the same old-world charm inside your office. Installing pivoting windows is a great idea, especially if you own an event management company, an advertising agency, or a design studio, where the aesthetics of your workplace play a key role in reeling in a client.

Bi-fold Windows

These windows hinge out and slide on a single track. They generally have two separate panes of glass partially folding into one another. Bi-fold windows allow you to create wider window frames, ushering in tonnes of natural light and fresh air. They provide an unobstructed view of the outside. If your office or boutique is on a quiet, tree-lined street; bi-fold windows are the perfect choice for you.  

Casement Windows

A classic casement window design never goes out of style. This type of window is hinged on one side and is mostly designed to open outwards. Casement windows are great at resisting rain and harsh winds. However, they cannot be installed on walls that open up passages or that face a corridor.   

Final Thoughts

Can’t decide which type of window to pair with which type of window glass? Turn to AIS Glass for all your glass needs. We provide end-to-end innovative window glass solutions with quick turnaround time. AIS Glass has been around for over three decades and is India’s leading integrated glass manufacturer. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

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Lacquered Glass an Exquisite and Stylish Alternative to Bathrooms Glass

Lacquered Glass an Alternative to Bathrooms Glass
Lacquered Glass an Alternative to Bathrooms Glass

When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is to make your way to that one room in the house where you can enjoy a pure moment of solitude – your bathroom! Your bathroom is a safe space where you can indulge in secret single behaviour unabashedly. The significance of this room is undeniable. This is not a room for functionality purposes alone; one ponders and introspects here in peace. Gift yourself a luxe and modern bathroom just by using contemporary designs of lacquered glass – the budding glass solution where aesthetics shakes hands with advanced functionality.

What Is Lacquered Glass?

Visualise an opaque silky-smooth surface which is highly durable, UV-resistant and coloured. Lacquered glass is redefining the way we think of glass. This type is coloured or “lacquered” which gives the viewer an illusion of an artsy grand glass wall. Lacquering is achieved by painting one of the glass surfaces with high-quality paints, followed by an oven-curing process to lock in its unique features. The resulting glass is not just coloured in appearance but also opaque.

What’s so Great About it?

There are several benefits of lacquered glass that come to light with prolonged usage. Check out a few significant ones here –

Splendid Chromatic Assortment

Remember how glass was once only transparent with a tint here and a hue there used mostly for partitions, windows and doors. Well, all that has changed with the arrival of lacquered glass. You will now find striking colour categories you can choose from, depending on the mood you want to set in a particular room.

Superior Finish, High Durability and Low-Maintenance  

The finish of lacquered glass lasts much longer than that of a distempered wall or a tiled one. It does not allow for water and dirt to accumulate on its surface and is extremely easy to wipe clean. The exterior conditions can never touch the paint leaving it unchipped and shiny for years. Lacquered glass is built to be tough, and it can withstand a tonne of pressure.

Thermal and Humidity-Resistant

Another critical feature of lacquered glass that makes it a safe choice for kitchens, bathrooms, and spaces where humidity and heat are prevalent is that it is thermal and humidity-resistant. AIS Glass offers its unique range of Lacquered glass solutions – AIS Décor – that is both thermal and humidity-resistant subject to certain conditions – The thermal resistance provided by AIS Décor extends up to 80° C.

How Can You Use This Innovation to Renovate Your Bathroom?

How common is it to hear people expressing that the best thoughts and ideas come to them when they are showering or shaving or are in the loo? Shouldn’t such a place deserve fantastic aesthetics that can support creative thoughts? Aesthetics add value to our lives. Our aesthetic sense is a representation of our identity, and our home is where it truly comes alive. While lacquered glass can be used anywhere in your house, let us look at some stellar ways to use them in your bathroom –

For the Affluent Shower Lover

If you love taking a warm frothy shower, singing yourself to glory, then you need a striking and comfortable shower stall where you can swish water around. A shower curtain with milieu just won’t do! A lacquered glass shower stall will add a splash of colour to an otherwise dull morning. Choose from a range of earthy tones or go for the stark bright ones, the choice is yours. Given the spectacular designs they come in, you can rest assured that you’ll find a colour that suits your personality.

For Your Secret Little Pleasures

So many of us spend time in front of our well-hung bathroom mirrors, brushing, washing, plucking, and gawking with essentials sprawled on the washbasin slab. Lacquered glass basins and slabs are perfect for your every day before-bed bathroom routines. Unlike stone basins and slabs that only come in two or three colours, these come in a vast variety and don’t lose their shine for years on end. Plus, since lacquered glass is low-maintenance, you do not have to worry about constant cleaning.

For the Contemporary Façade Lover in You

A bathroom can be a messy and a wet place. Walls with paints or tiles start collecting soap and dirt residue which become impossible to clean.  Lacquered glass panels can jazz up your bathroom walls, cabinets and shelves to the hilt and will demand zero-maintenance. They create a sense of space, especially if your bathroom is small and will lend a modern look to this room. Choose from a colour palette that suits your mood in the morning or choose a combination of two colours to clad your bathroom walls, cabinets and shelves.

Enough of Waxing Lyrical

The bottom line is that whatever your bathroom design goals may be, lacquered glass solutions will easily fit into them. You will always find a colour “that is so you”. AIS Glass has an astounding range of aesthetic lacquered glass solutions – AIS Decor. You will be spoilt for choice. We offer lacquered glass that will satiate your need for finding earthy colours or metallic colours or the good old vibrant ones. Be it giving your shower stall a punch of Ultramarine Blue or cladding your walls with sparkling walnut brown; AIS has it all. Our lacquered glass is not only aesthetically-pleasing but also highly functional – low-maintenance, durable, eco-friendly, and long-lasting. Get in touch with us today and find out more!

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Reflect Your True Personality Through Lacquered Glass

Lacquered Glass
Lacquered Glass

In the words of the leading figure in the English Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris, “If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Much like art, the crux of interior designing since time immemorial has been aesthetics and functionality. The term ‘design’ essentially covers interior décor that has some functional value to the occupants of the living space.

And keeping this golden rule under consideration, it is not strange that glass has gained ground as a primary material. After all, the modern-day innovative glass solutions offer near-endless possibilities in transforming a space, both practically and aesthetically.

The Elevated Approach to Interior Décor

And though the glass in any of its varied forms can effectively transform a space, the member of the glass family often associated with aesthetics is lacquered or back-painted glass. Lacquered glass is obtained by painting one of the glass surfaces through a superior process of lacquering subsequently oven-cured to lock in its unique features.

Not only does lacquered glass enhance the aesthetics with its pop of colour, but it is also highly functional with the added value of being UV, scratch, humidity-resistant, low-maintenance, highly versatile, and is opaque to ensure privacy.

Less House, More Home

“The best rooms have something to say about the people who live in them,” As said by the famous Australian interior designer David Hicks. From colours to patterns, from lighting to furnishings, your space must be the mouthpiece to your individuality. To embody the highest pedigree of bespoke interior design, there is something for every personality in the vibrant and versatile world of lacquered glass aesthetic solutions.  

Bring in refinement and timelessness to your haven by using lacquered glass for wall panelling, in furniture, kitchen and other cabinets, table-tops, washrooms, wardrobes, and writing boards. Notwithstanding your personhood, here’s how you can transform your house into a home with lacquered glass –

For the Modern Minimalist

If you are one of those who believe that less is more, home planning is all about simplicity in form and function, clean, open, light-filled spaces, strategic use of materials for visual interest, and simple detailing devoid of extravagant ornamentation. To help you keep it uncomplicated and straightforward, efficient use of lacquered glass aesthetic solutions would translate into a neutral colour palette and consistency in the look. AIS Glass offers calm neutral tones of Sparkling Beige, Stone Grey, and Turquoise Green when paired among each other or with Black Pearl can be installed for wall panelling, in kitchen cabinets, and on table-tops to render the feel of uncluttered yet well-planned aesthetics.

For the Aspirational Space

Are you a naturalist who is drawn to the glory of nature in its unbridled form? Well, then it’s no surprise that your home must reflect your love for the natural world. And to complement your aspirational space that blends the outdoors with the indoors, complete with an extended patio, and lush greens, lacquered glass is an ideal option both in terms of aesthetics and functionality. AIS Décor is available in a variety of earthy, greenish, and bluish tones such as Hazel Brown, Earthy Brown, Spring Green, Sea Green, Azure Blue, and Nile Blue that can reflect your inner naturalist. Install them in the partitions or doors facing the patio, for wall panelling in your living room, in kitchen cabinets, or practically in any way you desire to achieve the aspirational feel. Moreover, to put the cherry on the top, the paints used to back-paint AIS Décor are 100% eco-friendly.

For the Baroque Luxe

A rebel at heart? Your bold personality that questions established social conventions demands a living space that reflects it adequately. Lacquered glass can help you create that perfect Baroque luxe full of intense maximalism, and attention to heavy details and creativity. Take a detour from the conventional route by incorporating lacquered glass wall panels in bold, vibrant shades of Venetian Red, Chrome Yellow, Autumn Orange, and Azure Blue or opt for the grandeur of Sterling Silver to exude extravagance. Furthermore, don’t forget to play around with the various colours and processing options to create such patterns and textures that impart that ‘baroque’ feel of irregularity and eccentricity.

For an Undisturbed Hygge Culture

Tired of the glorification of busy and a lover of the slow-paced life that emanates joy, harmony, and cosiness? Then, your idea of an ideal living space must revolve around generating the “I love to live here” vibe drawn from the warmth and love between friends and family. To create the stress-relieving culture that is a hallmark of “La Dolce Vita,” lacquered glass can act as an ideal solution. The neutral pastel tones of Sparkling Beige, Snow White and Turquoise Green, when coupled with the shine, depth, and modernity of glass will integrate perfectly with the wooden fireplaces, soft cushions, faux fur pillows, knitted blankets, and your tangible nostalgic memories to result in a space that is heart-warming and relaxing.

For the Hybrid Luxury

Embracing modernism does not have to mean a complete about-turn from traditionalism. If this statement defines you correctly, your personal space must be a marriage of diverse creative aesthetic designs. To support your love for eclecticism, install lacquered glass panels of calm pastel tones of pure whites and greys or shiny metallic. Get it cut, drilled, bevelled, or polished as per your desire to complement your home that emulates tradition while respecting contemporary sensibilities.

Moreover, another way to approach hybrid luxury would be to alternate your living spaces in terms of minimalism and maximalism. Keep it neutral and calm with pastel hues in some rooms while getting loud with the vibrancy of brighter warmer tones of reds and yellows in some others. That way, you can even reflect that element of surprise in your personality – the part that is open to new concepts and ideas without losing reverence for the long-held traditions.

For Exuding Refinement and Sophistication

If you’re one of the truly classy and sophisticated, you very well understand that the best way to make a grand statement is not just to have ultra-expensive furniture and pieces of art (though every house needs a touch of glamour) but to create a space that is well-tailored and well-balanced; therein lies the chic factor. And when it comes to exuding sophistication, pastel tones work as well as rich darker ones with the key found in symmetry and keeping it organised. Install lacquered glass in any way you want, walls, wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, writing boards but ensure there’s simplicity and symmetry in the design and consistency in the colour palette – the hallmarks of elegance and refinement.

Add Grace to Any Space with AIS Décor

To enhance your space so that it reflects your true self, look no further than AIS Glass Lacquered Glass Aesthetic Solutions – AIS Décor. Available in an exclusive palette of 16 striking shades, the flawless finish of our lacquered glass has been achieved through a world-class manufacturing process to ensure the colour stands the test of time. Moreover, our lacquered glass is UV, thermal, scratch, and humidity-resistant. It is available in several processing options – can be cut, drilled, bevelled, ground, edge-finished, and polished to achieve the desired look. So, give your interiors the makeover they deserve with AIS Décor! Get in touch today. 

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Choosing an Ideal Reflective Glass: Aesthetics meets Functionality

Reflective Glass & How Is It Made?
Reflective Glass & How Is It Made?

The world of glass is an ethereal one indeed. There is a glass solution to meet every unique need. Be it that of strength, privacy, security, acoustic-insulation, or energy-efficiency; glass fulfills them all in style. And in this awe-inspiring universe of glass, reflective glass holds a significant place due to its superior aesthetics and stellar functionalities. After all, it allows buildings to achieve a great visual appeal while providing thermal comfort along with energy-efficiency.

What Is Reflective Glass?

Reflective glass is float glass with a thin metallic coating that provides it with a darker shade that helps combat solar glare. Reflective glass has diverse applications in both residential buildings as well as commercial enclaves. The interior applications include display cabinets, display windows, high-quality photo frames, table-tops, wardrobes, etc. The exterior applications include commercial façades, shop displays, restaurant fronts, air traffic control towers, petrol bunk windows, etc.

Reflective Glass: Perfect Blend of Aesthetics and Functionality

As discussed, reflective glass is a versatile material with multifarious applications. It is the perfect amalgamation of aesthetics and functionality. Let us understand a few of the key benefits of installing reflective glass in your home or office –

Optical Comfort

Tinted reflective glass undoubtedly encourages a more soothing atmosphere inside a building by reducing the solar glare along with providing a bold and sharp appearance to its façade. This type of glass allows for optimal sunlight filtration and hue neutrality that further eliminates the need to install blinds or window shutters. Reflective glass manufactured with a Low-E coating increases optical comfort and also makes the building more energy-efficient.

Colour Diversity

Reflective glass is available in varied hues such as bronze, silver, dark grey, green, dark blue, etc. You can choose the hue that aligns with the colour of your building’s framing, stonework, and metal panes. These hues protect your interiors from absorbing harmful UV rays and also significantly reduce the HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning unit) costs.

Ensures Privacy

The metallic coating on the glass surface provides a one-way mirror effect, rendering it opaque for people standing on the outside looking in. This allows for privacy while letting you or your guests or employees take advantage of the panoramic view of the outside. People and vehicles on the opposite side can simply see a reflection of themselves on the surface of such buildings.

Summer Comfort

Reflective glass allows for tonnes of natural light to shower in without absorbing any of the scorching heat that can make you uncomfortable. This treated glass surface allows light to reflect through but reflects away the heat the said light brings. This makes dwelling very comfortable, especially during the sweltering summer months.

Variety of Options to Choose From

Now that you have learned about the many benefits of reflective glass, you must be wondering about the variants. This type of glass comes in four major variants and is capable of addressing all your performance and design needs.

Opal Solar Control Reflective Glass

This type of reflective glass can be used for home and office exteriors as it cuts heat from your buildings. Opal is a popular choice for heat reflection and is available in several hues, thus enhancing the visual appeal to the building’s façade. This solar control glass comes in shades of royal blue, bronze, pearly grey, aqua blue, golden white and cool green. It is also available in a wide range of sizes and density. 

Ecosense Reflective Glass

Ecosense offers exceptional thermal comfort, reduces heat and UV absorption and makes your building energy-efficient. It is the ultimate amalgamation that provides optimum daylighting and aesthetics. This is a high-performance reflective glass and is specially designed to meet the requirement of every Indian customer who needs cooling more than heating. Ecosense can be installed in differing shades of blue and green. It can also be installed without any colour – clear reflective glass.

Super Silver Reflective Glass

Super silver is a heat reflective glazing solution manufactured through the process of CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition). CVD technology for making this type of reflective glass is far superior to the traditional spray-coated reflective glass available in the market. Super silver glass reduces solar glare and provides thermal as well as optical comfort inside the building. This glass reflects light during the day giving it one-sided mirror properties that also provide privacy to people inside. Super silver glass is available in various colours, sizes, and thickness.

Sunshield Reflective Glass

If you live or work in a particularly hot location then Sunshield glass is for you. Its strong coating provides a building with ultimate cooling comfort. Sunshield can be installed in several colours, thickness and sizes. It allows the light to reflect through without absorbing the heat and also helps provide solid protection against UV rays.

Get the Best of Reflective Glass at AIS Glass

Can’t decide which type of reflective glass to choose from? Turn to AIS Glass for all your reflective glass-related woes. We offer the aforementioned variety of reflective glass in several colours and customized sizes and thickness. Experience optimal daylight and glare management and keep unwanted heat at bay with AIS Glass’ innovative glass solutions. Get in touch today!

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Applications in Glass – User’s Guide

Applications in Glass
Applications in Glass

Glass and modern-day architecture share a special relationship. This material combines the best of aesthetics and high functionality. Structurally strong, durable and maintenance-free, glass finds its applications in several areas. Gone are the days when glass as a material was considered fragile. With the advent of advanced technologies, this material has emerged stronger than ever through the invention of toughened glass. Toughened glass is also called tempered glass and is a type of safety glass that is not easily breakable.

The Science Behind Tempered Glass

Tempered glass is about four to five times stronger than ordinary annealed glass. Before tempering glass, the panes need to be cut to the desired shape and size. After cutting, the glass is inspected for any imperfections that may lead to potential breakage during the toughening process. Tempered glass is manufactured from cut and thoroughly examined annealed glass panels that are made to undergo the process of heat tempering. Standard annealed glass panes are made to travel through a 620°C preheated industrial oven or furnace. Once the panes attain said temperature, they undergo a high-pressure cooling process called ‘Quenching’.

Quenching is achieved by blasting the outer surface of the glass with high-pressure air through a series of nozzles in varying positions. This process cools the outer layer of glass rapidly while the inner glass takes longer to cool down. As the center of the glass cools slowly, it tries to tug at the outer surface creating tension inside and compression outside. This chain of reactions gifts tempered glass with increased strength and durability.

Countless Use Cases

One of the tempered glass’s distinct features is that it does not break into sharp jagged shards. Tempered glass fractures into small pebble-like blunt pieces that are totally harmless. This type of safety glass does not break or chip easily.

Due to its unique safety features, tempered glass is used in a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and residential applications. Its versatility also makes it an obvious choice for people who are looking for sophisticated interiors without compromising on safety and durability. Let us look at some of the popular applications of tempered glass –

Residences

Tempered glass makes for the most beautiful and long-lasting table-tops, patio furniture, kitchen cabinets, shelves, partitions, bookshelves, shower stalls, bathroom doors, etc for residential dwellings. Tempered glass is scratch-proof, has high wear-and-tear resistance, and demands practically zero maintenance. If you are renovating your home and wish to create a sense of openness by installing interior sliding doors then the tempered glass is the right choice for you. Since this glass is very durable and safe, you can use it abundantly in your home without the fear of it hurting anybody in case of breakage, especially with little kids running around. 

Offices

This type of glass is widely used in commercial interiors for conference table-tops, office desks, display cases, office partitions, etc. If your office has an open floor plan then the tempered glass is ideal for creating temporary partitions. This way the office space will look expansive. Tempered glass is strong enough to endure daily office wear-and-tear.

Shop and Restaurant Displays

Tempered glass panes are commonly used for retail window displays, countertops and partitions in designer boutiques, grocery stores, malls, restaurants, etc. Since these displays are routinely touched by employees and countless shoppers; strength and durability are imperative. For instance, the display cases at most electronics shops are made of tempered glass. 

Stairwell Railings

Where there are stairs, there will be railings! Tempered glass railings are a fantastic addition to your home or office décor. Since railings get touched a lot daily, they need to hold up against a great deal of wear and tear, and the strong and thick tempered glass will do the trick. This type of glass is very easy to maintain. All you need to do is wipe these railings with a soft damp cloth once a week and let it air dry.

Appliances

Apart from being strong and durable, tempered glass can also withstand both very hot and very cold temperatures comfortably. This is why they are used with varied thickness to make oven doors, microwave doors, refrigerator shelves, etc.

Sports Arenas

Have you ever wondered why glass panels around an ice skating rink or an ice hockey rink don’t shatter when skaters or hockey players knock into them? The credit goes to the unmatched strength of tempered glass. Panels made from tempered glass are far less likely to break even when a great deal of force comes smacking into them. These panels eliminate the risk of injury by creating a solid barrier between the players and the spectators. 

Experience the Goodness of Tempered Glass with AIS Glass

Looking for tempered glass for your home or office? To experience the best of tempered glass, always trust AIS Glass – India’s leading glass manufacturer. We provide you with end-to-end solutions for all your glass-related woes. Rely on our team of experts to help you pick the right glass and install it professionally at your place of interest. Our AIS Stronglas is a high-grade tempered glass that is highly strong and durable, capable of resisting heavy impacts. It can be widely used in table-tops, balustrades, shelves, facades, shower enclosures, partitions, washbasins, and canopies. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

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Applications of Laminated Glass in High-Security Areas

Laminated Glass in High-Security Areas
Laminated Glass in High-Security Areas

Glass is a universal material used in the construction of buildings, both residential and commercial. Traditionally known for its fragility, modern-day innovative glass solutions have rendered ordinary glass a strong, versatile, and durable material capable of advanced functionalities. One such highly functional member of the glass family is laminated glass. Let us find out what laminated glass is and how it renders much-needed security to high-security areas.

What is Laminated Glass?

Laminated glass is a processed glass that serves as a fantastic alternative to ordinary glass. It offers a tough and robust structure and is difficult to break. It is a shatterproof glass so in a situation of breakage, it sticks to the frame and doesn’t shatter. 

Laminated glass is made with two or more panes of glass that are held in place with the help of an interlayer to form a permanent and strong bond. The interlayer is typically made of Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB). The PVB interlayer bonds with both the layers of the glass and hold it together to form one strong, intact uniformed layer upon a harsh impact. This bond between the PVB sheet and the glass is a chemical bond and thus it does not shatter easily. 

Laminated glass is found in the market in varying types of thickness. Different coatings and glass combinations of laminated glass are also available. These varying combinations add different qualities to the laminated glass such as better insulation, low emission, etc. 

Benefits of Using Laminated Glass

Laminated glass hosts a whole lot of benefits such as –

Better Safety

Ordinary glass is fragile and brittle. In case of breakage or accidental collision, ordinary glass shatters into long, jagged pieces that can cause serious, sometimes even fatal injuries. This is why using laminated glass becomes the best alternative. Laminated glass’ primary feature is its performance under harsh impact. The special PVB interlayer in laminated glass can absorb the impact and resists penetration. Under extremely harsh impact, the glass might break but the glass fragments will remain firmly attached to the interlayer and not shatter like ordinary glass. This minimises the risk of injuries and ensures safety.

Increased Security

Burglars often break windows or doors to intrude on your property. To safeguard your home and to add another layer of security, opt for laminated glass. The strength of laminated glass can resist intrusion and can make it almost impossible for any unauthorised person to break in. Even if an unauthorised person manages to break in, the interlayer will hold up the strength of the structure so that the gap is extremely difficult to widen. Moreover, since laminated glass pieces do not break and shatter unlike ordinary glass but stick to the PVB interlayer, this makes it very difficult for intruders to break in.

Noise Insulation

Laminated glass has proven itself to be an excellent barrier to noise. Installing laminated glass can prevent external sounds from intruding and provides a 90% sound reduction. When compared to normal 5mm glass, AIS Glass’s range of laminated glass called AIS Acoustic glass provides an extra 50-60% sound reduction. The noise cancellation feature becomes extremely important, especially if your house or workplace is near the main street, traffic signal, airports, or an area with night clubs and pubs.

Solar-Energy Control

Even though natural light sounds good, too much sunlight can also mean too much heat. Laminated glass can be used in combination with low-E glass or tinted glass to reduce heat gain. Reduced heat gain will subsequently lead to low usage of air-conditioners. This low usage will ultimately lower your energy consumption and bring down your energy bills.

Better Protection

Laminated glass is also resistant to dirt, debris, and other harmful environmental elements. When paired with UV-absorbing additives in the interlayer, laminated glass can also protect the interiors of your property from harmful UV rays. UV rays are not only harmful to your health, but are also a major cause of damage and fading of furnishings, rugs, and pictures in your house or office, so protection from UV rays is important.

Application of Laminated Glass

Due to its strength and shatterproof quality, laminated glass finds wide variety of applications in areas both residential and commercial. Laminated glass’ safety feature is extremely useful in areas that need high-security such as banks, money-exchange centers, jewellery shops, museums, and art galleries. They can also be used in prisons to help protect the premises as well as the prisoners. Due to its strong resistant capacity, laminated glass can be used to make bulletproof glass. With rising levels of crime and terrorism in urban spaces, the usage of bulletproof glass can safeguard lives. It can also be used in places that have national and international importance to add another level of security.

Areas in residential and commercial complexes that are prone to theft, burglary and criminal activities can have laminated glass installed to provide better security. These areas that are at higher risk of break-ins will benefit hugely from the installation of laminated glass.  Moreover, laminated glass is the best material to be used in the construction of buildings in disaster-prone areas, especially where hurricanes and tornadoes are common.

Laminated glass is also used in car windshields as it will provide maximum protection in the face of an accident. It can also be used as a structural glass and used in the construction of glass railings, glass floors, skylights, roofs, sunspaces, curtain walls, glass facades, etc. As laminated glass remains intact when broken, it is also great for overhead glazing in buildings. Due to their noise-insulation properties, laminated glass can also be used at hotels, airport terminals, recording studios, etc.

Looking for high-quality laminated glass? Look no further than AIS Glass. As India’s leading glass manufacturer, you can rely on us for all your glass needs. Our high-quality laminated glass – AIS Security glass – offers high-level intrusion resistance from burglar attacks, 90% noise-insulation, and can be used in a wide number of ways.  You can use it either in windows, roof lights, canopies, overhead glazing, domes, skylights, and glass lift walls. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

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Back Painted Glass by AIS: Uses and Applications

Back Painted Glass

Have you ever wondered why certain homes, lobbies, kitchens and bathrooms look more slick, colourful and modern than the others? Check again, back painted glass might be the answer. Imagine a perfectly smooth-coloured wall with an impeccable finish and sheen that lasts for years on end. That is back painted glass for you.     

What Is Back Painted Glass?

Back painted glass refers to panes that are painted or coated on one side, rendering the glass’ surface opaque. It is installed with the unpainted side facing outside. Back painted glass looks great and is rapidly gaining popularity. Try back painted glass instead of distempering or wallpapering to create an elegant and contemporary look. Back painted glass boasts a seamless finish that lasts much longer than other wall colouring or cladding materials. 

Applications of Back Painted Glass

A surface that looks as beautiful as this is bound to have a diverse set of applications. Back painted glasses provide an upscale look to any place they are installed in. If you are looking to renovate your home or office, back-painted glass walls are a good starting point. 

Back Painted Glass for Your Kitchen 

Back painted glass in kitchens are preferred by many as they do not get stained due to spills or splatters. You can simply wipe these glass walls off with a damp cloth and there will be no residual sign of a stain left. Distempered walls, especially inside kitchens tend to get splotchy fast and need a fresh lick of paint now and then. Back painted glass in kitchens can rid you of maintenance woes completely. These glass panes are resistant to moisture and steam and can maintain their finish for a very long time. You can choose back painted glass for cladding kitchen walls, kitchen island tops, etc. 

Back Painted Glass for Your Bathrooms 

Nothing freshens- up dated bathroom interiors like back painted glass. Bathrooms are moist, wet, and humid, which is why they are harder to maintain than other parts of your home. Back painted glass withstands moisture comfortably, is easy to clean and looks phenomenal. You can use back painted glass for shower wall panels, bathroom walls, washbasin tops, etc.  

Integrating back painted glass into your bathroom can completely alter its ambience and make it noticeably edgier. 

Back Painted Glass for Commercial Structures

In commercial spaces, back painted glass can be used to make conference room tables, wall claddings, room partitions, etc. Back painted glass has a clean, crisp, and sharp finish. These qualities blend very well with the formal or semi-formal demeanour you may want to set in an office space. Moreover, since back painted glass is available in a universe of colours, you can fashion it to match the colours of your company’s logo to enhance branding. Back painted glass is also popularly used in shopping malls, stores, entertainment venues, restaurants, etc. 

Back Painted Glass for Marker Boards

A white-coloured back painted glass when placed on a wall instantly becomes an easy to clean whiteboard. This application also works wonderfully inside meeting rooms, waiting areas, and other office corners where you may want to otherwise install a notice board.    

Advantages of Back Painted Glass

Back painted glass is predominantly installed to enhance the aesthetics of any space, but its list of benefits doesn’t end there. It has many more unsung benefits that are listed below for your reference:

Colour and Pattern Diversity 

Back painted glass is available in a vast variety of colours and patterns. You will surely be spoilt for choice! There is a colour available to set the tone and mood for every room of the home. You can choose striking yellows or oranges for your kids’ room, or go for sombre pastels for the lounging or living areas of your home or office. The chromatic assortment is simply mind-blowing! 

Durable and Low on Maintenance 

While the outer surface of back painted glass can endure heat, humidity, and moisture routinely, the inner coated side is comfortably tucked away, always looking good as new. This quality makes back painted glass pretty much maintenance-free. This surface is very easy to wipe clean in case any dirt or grime settles on it. It also receives multiple coatings of paint which structurally strengthens it, thus increasing overall durability. 

Can Withstand Heat and Moisture 

Back painted glass panes look fresh even after years of installation. The paint never gets chipped or distorted, which is why it is great for bathrooms and kitchens. A hot splash of water or curry splutter is nothing this glass cannot handle. Unlike wall paint or paper that starts showing wear, back painted glass looks brand new every single day.   

The Bottom Line 

Looking for back painted glass solutions near you? Turn to AIS Glass for back painted panes and take the benefit of our 34 striking colours that range from sombre earthy pastels to metallic shades to pure placid colours. Give your living room wall a touch of Terracotta or jazz up your bathroom with a punch of Sparkling Coral, or light up your kitchen walls with Miami Blue, we have them all! Our team of trained technicians is fully equipped to address all your glass-related woes. AIS Glass has been a leader in glazing solutions for over three decades. Contact us today! 

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Valuable Tips to Maintain Your Car Windscreen

Tips to Maintain Your Car Windscreen
Tips to Maintain Your Car Windscreen

Most of the car owners indeed pay adequate attention to the maintenance of their cars. They take them for their periodic visit to the service centre but many often forget to consider the car windscreen of their vehicles in these periodic visits. Simply put, many car owners think the least about the windscreen. But, a car windscreen is extremely vital as it serves the functional roles of rendering structural integrity to the car, offering unobstructed visibility, and ensuring the safety of all passengers and hence, requires proper maintenance.

Importance of a Car Windscreen

The car windscreen is not an ornamental addition to your car but it plays an important part in your car. The most important function of a car windscreen is to protect you and your fellow passengers from the wind, dust, debris, stones, and other outside elements. It is also a vital component of your car as it provides structural integrity to your car. Your car windscreen keeps the roof intact and in the face of an accident, prevents it from falling and crushing the occupants of the car. Your car windscreen also prevents you from being thrown out of the car in the face of a harsh impact. A damaged and weak windscreen will not be able to withstand the severity of an impact in an accident like a normal windscreen can. If you are not wearing a seat-belt, the impact can cause you to be thrown out of the car, causing fatal injuries. 

Just like any other component of your car, your car windscreen also requires routine maintenance. If you don’t maintain your car windscreen then gradually the dirt stuck on it will obstruct the view of the driver and they won’t be able to see the road ahead. This automatically becomes a risky way of driving on the road. A dirty windscreen also impacts the overall image of your car. To maintain your car windscreen, the first and foremost thing that you should do is treat your car windscreen with utmost care as you do with the car’s engine or tires. Even a minor issue with your windscreen that you choose to neglect can land you in deep trouble and can endanger the safety of you and your loved ones.

To help you maintain your car windscreen, here are a few valuable tips –

Clean Your Car Windscreen

Your car windscreen is important and it requires proper care. Leaving pollen, dead insects and dirt on the windshield are hazardous. They create an obstruction in your line of sight, impair your visibility and compromise the integrity of your windscreen glass. If not cleaned on time and properly, tiny pieces of debris or stones can scrape the windscreen glass. These scrapes create micro-abrasions and repeated micro-abrasions can make your car windscreen more prone to cracking. But if you make it a point to clean your windshield routinely and to take it to a service centre for regular screening then you will prolong its life.

Swap the Wipers

Daily use and sun exposure can cause damage to the wipers. These damaged wipers can subsequently cause damage to the car windscreen. It is important to get your car windscreen wipers replaced at least every six months. If you tend to leave your car parked in the sun or you regularly drive long distances then you might need to change your wipers more frequently. Car owners should remember that when it comes to vision and safety, there shouldn’t be any compromises.

Hire Professionals

Doing so will prevent further serious damage to your car windscreen. Car windscreens always run the risk of getting chipped or cracked. A crack or a chip may seem like a small problem but over time they have the potential to become more money-consuming and time-consuming. Due to this, it becomes mandatory for you to hire professional help to deal with the situation. A highly-trained technician will be adept at handling situations like this. They will assess your car and give you the best solution based on the severity of the damage regarding whether it will be feasible to repair windscreen or replace the windscreen. Minor chips that are smaller than 1 inch, they can get easily repaired. If the chip damage on your windscreen is restricted to only the outer layer of the glass then a simple repair can solve the problem. But anything beyond two chips requires a car windscreen replacement. For example, if your windscreen is littered with numerous chips or cracks then it cannot be repaired, as the structural loss due to a damaged car windscreen can be extremely risky. If the damage occurred a while ago, and a significant amount of time has passed then also a simple repair job may not suffice. Hence, in such cases, it is best to opt for windshield replacement performed by a professional. While getting a replacement job, you can choose a variety of different types of value-added auto glasses offered by AIS Glass. AIS Glass has a range of automotive glass products that are engineered to the highest global quality standards. These glass products will not only ensure vision and safety but they are also designed to offer special functions like rain-sensor windscreens, heat-screen windscreens, extruded windscreens, etc.

Your best defence against replacing the entire car windscreen and maintaining it is to have it evaluated by a business that you trust and if or when you find cracks or chips, do not resort to DIY solutions, rather hire professional help.

If you are on the lookout for value-added automotive glass products, especially related to your car windscreen then look no further than AIS Windshield Experts – India’s largest and leading car glass network.  Our windshields are made using high-quality laminated glass, our experts are highly trained and observe international safety standards, and our 80+ conveniently-located service centres in over 45 cities and several mobile vans allow us to reach you whenever and wherever. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

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Use Customised Mirror Glass for Home Décor

Mirror Glass for Home Décor
Mirror Glass for Home Décor

In the awe-inspiring universe of glass, mirror glass takes a significant place. Mirror glass panes can be used to specifically serve as mirrors and also to manufacture reflective surfaces for architectural and home décor purposes, such as furniture tops and exterior facades. In this article, we will explore the benefits and applications of mirror glass but, before that let us clearly understand the science behind this product.

The Science Behind Mirror Glass

The modern mirror glass is made by silvering, which essentially is achieved by applying multiple layers of aluminium or silver on the backside of a float glass pane. It is important to understand that light reflects best from surfaces that are non-diffusive, meaning opaque. Modern innovation in mirror glass begins with smoothening and flattening the glass surface and then applying metal coatings of uniform thickness on the inner side of the surface. If even one of these coatings ends up being thicker than the rest, you will either look thinner or fatter than normal. If the metallic coating ends up being scratched, the brightness will become uneven. In case the coating is too thin, you will be able to see through to the other side of the mirror, if only slightly.  

Difference Between Mirror Glass and One-Sided Mirror Glass

You must have noticed that certain types of mirrors are not completely opaque and while you can see your reflection in them from a distance, it is hazy and not as well-defined as when you look at yourself in your dressing table mirror. These are one-sided mirrors and have applications in interrogative or observatory practices. A mirror is completely opaque and a person standing on the other side of it will be unable to see you. Whereas, a one-sided mirror allows the person on the other side to see you without you finding out. One-sided mirror glass also has the same metallic coating like the one used to make a mirror. The difference, however, lies in the coating thickness. One-way mirror glass has a thin metallic coat painted on one side which makes it easier for a person to look through the surface to the other side.

Take a Style Detour with Mirror Glass

Using mirror glass to decorate your home can provide multiple aesthetic benefits. If you think mirrors are only good for looking at your reflection, then you need to check out our list of awesome décor ideas using mirror glass –

Opens up Spaces

Mirror glass makes spaces larger, meaning it gives a sense of space no matter how short you are on square footage. This can truly be a bonus for smaller bedrooms, drawing rooms, or even cramped corridors. Place a full-length mirror on one side of the corridor to create an illusion of space. Alternatively, you can choose to install a big rectangular mirror glass, instead of painting(s) behind the mast of your bed. This will liven up your bedroom and suddenly make it seem double the size. Similarly, placing a couple of mirrors in important corners of your drawing room can transform your space unlike anything else.

Brightens up Spaces

Place two mirror glass panes facing each other on opposite sides of the room. Alternatively, place a mirror opposite a window. Both these applications will lead to room brightening. The ambient light will get reflected off the glass’s surface, making the space cheery and bright. Installing a ceiling to floor-length mirror glass in the passage leading to the main door will also help make the passage brighter.

Creates Focal Points

Place a mirror inside a stained glass or a tiled pattern frame to decorate a single wall in your room. On the chosen blank wall, hang an array of framed mirrors or framed convex mirrors and turn the wall into true eye candy. This is an ingenious method of adding a focal point to spaces. Using mirror glass to design interiors also amplifies the pre-existent focal points.

Livens up Furniture

Mirror glass is a fantastic material to jazz up spaces and can transform an ordinary-looking piece of furniture into something that stands out. For example, you can use mirror glass for coffee table tops, chest of drawers, wardrobe doors, etc. as this will boost the visual aesthetics of the room. You can also use mirrored furniture pieces to give your office an enhanced and unique aesthetic appeal. A smaller conference table with a mirror glass table-top will enhance the overall look of the room and make it brighter.

See More Clarity with AIS Mirror

Whatever your aesthetic goals may be, make a statement with mirror glass. Mirrors these days are sturdy and safe to use for home décor. Turn to AIS Glass for all your mirror glass needs. Our mirror glass is free from any copper coatings ensuring that no oxidised stains appear throughout the lifetime of the glass, is environment-friendly, provides unparalleled resistance to corrosion and aging and is compatible with a wide range of adhesives.  Moreover, AIS Mirror is available in a wide variety of sizes, thickness options, and fun colour varieties. Get in touch with us today to explore the unique world of AIS Mirror!

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Tips to Select Window Glass for Your New Home

Window Glass for Your New Home
Window Glass for Your New Home

Countless studies have concluded that humans have an unrelenting need to expose themselves to ample amounts of natural light on a routine basis. This helps them stay productive, whether at the office or at home. People spend the majority of their time indoors these days, which is why daylight management is accomplished through glass windows. Whether you want to design an ideal workspace or your new home whose interiors reflect your personality, windows with the right type of glass are at the core of any building. A cheery and conducive atmosphere can be achieved through them, but how do you decide on the type of glass these windows should contain? Here are a few tips and tricks that can help you figure out the type of glass better-suited for your home’s windows.

Importance of Selecting the Right Window Glass

Windows will be responsible for thermal comfort inside your home. Inefficient management of heat moving through windows can dramatically reduce your home’s energy-efficiency. As a result, your home’s interiors will be overly hot during summers and freezing cold during winters. This will spike up the usage of heating and cooling devices and, in turn, energy bills. The type of window glass used for your spaces should disallow heat loss during winter and heat gain during summer. Energy-inefficient glass can burden your air-conditioning system, while too much glare can make sitting inside a room uncomfortable. The good news is that with the advent of high-performance window glass solutions, windows have been able to overcome the problems related to thermal discomfiture. 

Modern-day homes lay a lot of emphasis on the aesthetic exteriors as well as interiors. This is often achieved through gorgeous, sizable glass windows. While consulting with a window glass dealer, inquire about the basic glass performance indicators namely, the R-values and the U-values. These values are a measurement of heat loss. Windows that have a high R-value or low U-value will provide the best thermal comfort for your home without compromising on the glamour.

Consider These Factors Before Choosing Window Glass

Before zeroing-in on a particular type of glass for your windows, ask the following three questions to gain a deeper understanding of what you want – What is the nature of my safety requirements (especially if there are kids around)?, how noisy is my neighbourhood (is it located in a busy part of town or on the main street)?, what is the climate of my city around the year?

Firstly, if your new home is situated in a very busy part of the city, security concerns should take precedence. You will need to choose a type of window glass that is strong and can withstand any unfortunate incidents, like a break-in. Also, if you have children running and playing around your home, you need windows and doors made of safety glass. Laminated glass or toughened glass would be ideal in both of these scenarios. Both of these glasses are stronger than normal glass and can resist heavy external impact. Moreover, each of these glasses is designed in a manner that on the rare event of breakage, they do not shatter into sharp shards, unlike regular glass. Instead, toughened glass breaks into small, blunt, pebble-like pieces and laminated glass pieces remain stuck to the special PVB interlayer – used to bind the two glass sheets into a single, strong layer.

Secondly, if your home is in an especially noisy neighbourhood with reduced privacy then installing soundproof or frosted window glass will work best for you. These types of glass are a variant of laminated glass so they are very strong. Acoustic insulation can have you living comfortably in one of the busiest neighbourhoods without the menace of traffic noise, whereas, frosted glass can address your privacy concerns. Too much noise can leave you stressed as well as fatigued, whereas, reduced privacy can lead to safety concerns.

Thirdly, if you live in a particularly hot or cold city or near the ocean then window glass that provides thermal comfort is imperative. Low-E and insulated glass panes are strong, energy-efficient and will work best in this situation. Low E-glass has an invisible metallic coating that blocks excessive solar heat transfer and also keeps humidity at bay. This does not only maintain comfortable internal temperatures but also prevents the solar glare from fading your interior furnishings such as carpets, rugs, etc. Low-E window glass absorbs the majority of UV rays from the sun and provides for a better dwelling experience, especially during the warmer months. During winters, this type of window glass allows the sunlight to stream through and naturally keeps your home warmer.

Another thing to keep in mind going forward with your decision is that panes today are available in both double as well as triple-glazing. Singular-paned glass in residential windows is fast becoming a thing of the past. Double-glazed windows made from any of the aforementioned types of window glass are great for thermal comfort, security and sound-resistance. However, if you live in an extremely cold city then going for triple-glazing might work better when it comes to increased thermal comfort.

The Bottom Line

Choosing the right kind of glass may seem like an afterthought while installing windows, but this decision will have major repercussions on the comfort, safety, security and the privacy of your family members. No matter which type of window glass you zero-in on from the list above or otherwise, AIS Glass will provide you end-to-end solutions for all your window glass needs. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

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Toughened Glass — Know Properties, Benefits, and Applications

The world of architecture and interior designing is no stranger to glass as a building material. Glass is the front-runner in many designers’ books. It is not just the striking appearance that glass renders to a space that makes it a cherished material, but the connection it establishes with the outdoors and the natural light it filters in.

The native identity of glass has been one of being fragile and delicate. And even after decades of technological advancements, the misconceptions still prevail. People continue to remain misinformed and ignorant of the fact that modern-day glass is anything but fragile. Despite retaining the delicacy of regular glass in looks, the character of modern-day glass is that of strength and extreme durability capable of withstanding heavy external impacts. Toughened glass, tempered glass, or safety glass, is one such member of the glass family known to be robust and sturdy.

Toughened Glass — Properties, Benefits, and Applications

Properties of Toughened Glass

The following are the characteristics toughened glass is known for –

1. Resistance to Thermal Breakage

The heat from sunlight can make glass expand and contract at inconsistent rates. This creates stress in the glass and can lead to breakage. But you can prevent the risk of thermal damage by using toughened glass. Toughened glass also has an excellent heat-withstanding capacity.

2. Strength

Toughened glass is physically as well as thermally solid, and research shows that it can withstand surface compression of at least 10,000 lbs per square inch, which is why toughened glass is considered to be safety glass. They are also known to be four to five times stronger than annealed glass and three times more potent than heat-strengthened glass. As these glasses are robust, they reduce the risk of damage if they encounter An accident

3. Resilience

Toughened glass is manufactured when regular glass is exposed to extreme heat and then cooled rapidly. Due to this excessive heating and cooling process, the chemical composition of the glass undergoes an alteration, making it more resilient.

4. Enhanced Safety

If the toughened glass meets harsh impact, instead of breaking into sharp, jagged shards, it breaks into harmless circular chunks. Thus, these glasses reduce the risk of injury. If toughened glass breaks, it is also more comfortable for you to clean it than the jagged shards of glass. The small chunks can easily be swept up by a broom and then thrown in the garbage without the fear of any jagged shards hurting anyone.

5. Versatility

Toughened glass is a highly flexible and versatile material, which means that you can use it as per your needs and requirements. Tempered glass is now available in various styles, making it the ideal choice for all your modern interior settings.

Benefits of Toughened Glass

Toughened glass offers a great deal of improvement over the standard type of glass, especially when constructing buildings with glass exteriors. Let us look at why you need to choose toughened glass if you are considering building a modern structure that involves countless glass panes.

    • Strong and Safe

One of the most fundamental reasons behind tempering glass is to provide it with the strength to combat rigorous environmental conditions. Since it is far less likely to break, many high-rise buildings, skyscrapers, stand-alone glass partitions, etc., are built using this type of glass. Furthermore, even if it fails due to exposure to very harsh conditions, it never shatters. When standard glass shatters into sharp shards, it can seriously hurt people standing close by. Toughened glass develops countless cracks and breaks into blunt bits that are incapable of causing any serious injuries. This makes this glass very safe for use, even around kids.

    • Scratch-Proof

Toughened glass is immune to daily wear and tear. It does not get damaged easily and maintains its sheen and finish for years on end. It is ideal for glass partitions and residential as well as commercial doors and windows. No cricket ball will be able to shatter your windows if they are built using toughened glass.

    • Heat-Resistant

When the annealed glass is exposed to high temperatures continually, it can shatter, causing sharp shards of glass to sprawl across your floor. This can be perilous, especially for children. However, toughened glass is manufactured using heat tempering and can endure uncomfortably warm and humid temperatures. This is why using them in your bathrooms makes sense. For instance, a shower stall made from toughened glass gladly endures boiling water without incurring any damage.

    • Versatile Applications

You can mould toughened glass in varied creative ways due to its incredible strength and the capability to withstand trying temperatures. This is why it finds its applications ranging from cookware to commercial buildings. Other applications include frameless glass doors, table tops, mobile phone screens, laboratory equipment, etc. Toughened glass is also amalgamated with laminated glass to manufacture bullet resistance glass for vehicles.

    • Several Design Options

Toughened glass comes in several patterns and designs to address your varied requirements. For instance, choose from a range of frosted, translucent, coloured, clear, and engraved options for different rooms that serve other purposes in your home or office. These diversities ensure that you achieve a keenly designed yet safe glass option.

    • Resists Damage from Sunlight

Sunlight heats exterior glass surfaces unevenly. Sometimes the direction of the building is such that one side sees more sun than the other. Direct sunlight expands and contracts glass surfaces. Unevenly absorbing direct sunlight makes the surface expand and contract unevenly. This difference may create stress in glass that may lead to damage or even breakage. Toughened glass can easily withstand this temperature differential up to 250 °C.

Applications of Toughened Glass

In many countries worldwide, the government has mandated the use of toughened glass in high rise buildings as it can handle the air pressure and is lightweight. This glass is preferably installed in areas that experience heavy wind, snow, and thermal loads. The regular annealed glass would succumb in such pressure areas. Due to its structural strength, it is used in architectural applications such as glass doors, partition walls, and windows on the side of buildings.

In-office spaces, toughened glass can enhance the environment when used in glass doors, desks, and partitions. Tempered glass is also low-maintenance and can be easily cleaned using a high-quality glass cleaner and a clean, damp cloth. Moreover, using glass partitions creates the illusion of a more spacious workplace by making the area seem more significant than it is.

Tabletops and shelves made of toughened glass help you store your belongings without worrying about their weight.

From Durability to Aesthetics: The Journey of Toughened Glass

Now that we’ve discussed the wide range of functionalities intrinsic to toughened glass, let us delve a little deeper into how it can even enhance the visual appeal of your work area. Firstly, you have the option of using toughened glass with frames or frameless, depending on where it is to be installed. For example – you can use framed toughened glass for walls of conference or board rooms and frameless ones for a cabin entrance door.

Moreover, you can transform toughened glass post-tempering to serve other functionalities and enhance the aesthetics. If you want privacy, toughened glass can be made to undergo the process of sand blazing or acid-etching to produce frosted glass. Or, if your privacy needs come and go, you can opt for switchable glass – a glass whose privacy you can control with the push of a button. Switchable glass or smart glass can be produced using PDLC technology on toughened glass.

Furthermore, toughened glass can be back painted to add a pop of colour to your workplace and even segregate different spaces. Back painted glass is especially popular as room dividers and partitions. Back painted glass panels are fun to break up large, plain walls and fill other empty spaces. You can even use back-painted toughened glass as marker boards. Depending on your needs, toughened glass can even be laminated (ordinary, coloured, or fabric laminated).

Enhance Your Spaces’ Safety with AIS Stronglas

With so many advantages, toughened glass should be ideal for offices, homes, schools, and other commercial enclaves. To experience the best of toughened glass, always trust AIS Stronglas. AIS Stronglas is a high-grade toughened glass that is tough, durable, can withstand harsh conditions, and does not crack or break easily upon impact. it has various applications such as tabletops, balustrades, shelves, facades, shower enclosures, and partitionsPlease consult with our team of experts and be rest assured of high-quality products delivered and installed professionally. Get in touch with us today.

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Points to Think Before Installing Tempered Glass at Home

Installing Tempered Glass at Home

Toughened glass, also called tempered glass is a strong and durable glass surface that does not break easily. Due to its capability to withstand high-temperature differentials, it is popularly used in oven doors, room partitions, glass partitions, building façades, etc. Tempered glass is at least four to five times stronger than standard annealed glass. Keep reading to find out why? 

The Science Behind Toughened Glass

Tempered glass panes are made from standard glass panes that undergo a thermal tempering process. Panes of annealed glass are cut, drilled and fileted to customer specifications first. They are then passed through a 680°C preheated furnace on a roller table. This takes the glass beyond its transmission temperature and softens it. The heat-treated glass is then left to cool down. But, this surface does not cool uniformly. The outer surface of the glass cools much more rapidly, while the inside of the pane remains hot. This creates “centre tension” in the slab, altering its physical characteristics permanently and providing it with a great deal of toughness. 

An important thing to consider is that the annealed glass surface must be cut to size or pressed into the desired shape before heat tempering. Once the glass has undergone the toughening process, it cannot be re-worked on. If you try to drill a hole or cut through a toughened pane of glass, it will break completely.

Should You Install Tempered Glass at Home?

Flat out yes! Toughened or tempered glass has a wealth of benefits that make it one of the safest types of glass to install at home. No wonder it is also known as safety glass! A lot of glass is used in homes today to provide an added sense of space and comfort. Toughened glass looks great and can be used for internal as well as external windows, doors, partitions, skylights, etc. Safety is paramount when it comes to fenestration. Toughened glass lets you combine security with aesthetics seamlessly. Here is a comprehensive list of pointers in support of installing tempered glass at home –

Strong and Safe

The most important reason for heat-tempering a glass pane is to provide doors, windows, and façades with the strength to combat rigorous environmental conditions, like thunderstorms, torrid rainfall, wind, dust storms, etc. Also, tempered glass is far less likely to shatter under the influence of strong winds at higher altitudes, which is why several skyscrapers and high-rise residential buildings are built using this type of glass. More importantly, in a rare and unfortunate event of its breaking, tempered glass never shatters into sharp jagged pieces. It develops countless cracks and breaks into blunt pebble-like bits that are incapable of causing any grave injuries. This makes this glass very safe, especially if you have little kids in your home.

Resistant to Heat and Humidity

Toughened glass is highly capable of enduring uncomfortably warm and humid temperatures. You can use them for shower stalls, glass partitions, basin slabs, kitchen cabinets, etc. These surfaces can happily endure a generous splash of hot water and steam. Tempered glass requires very little maintenance and retains its sheen and finish for years on end. Use a soft damp cloth to wipe it once a week.

Diverse Applications

Tempered glass is easily mouldable in a variety of creative ways. It has applications ranging from cookware to commercial buildings. Several other popular applications include frameless glass doors, table-tops, mobile phone screens, laboratory equipment, and much more. Toughened glass can also be combined with laminated glass to manufacture automotive bulletproof windows.

Several Design Options

Tempered glass can be combined with several technologies to enhance its functionality. For instance, you can choose from a range of toughened frosted surfaces, translucent surfaces, coloured, clear and engraved options for different rooms that serve different purposes at your home or office. You can also get them in various tints and shades depending on the mood you want to set in a room.

Resists Solar Damage

Solar glare can heat up exterior glass surfaces unevenly. Sometimes, one side of a building receives more sunlight than the other. Prolonged direct sun exposure expands and contracts glass surfaces, regardless of their type. Uneven absorption of sunlight makes the overall glass surface expand and contract unevenly. This difference can create stress in glass panes leading to further damage or breakage. Such a phenomenon also affects tempered glass, but these panels are adept at withstanding such a temperature differential up to 250°C.  

Concluding Thoughts

Keep in mind the aforementioned benefits of toughened glass before choosing the standard annealed glass. Tempered surfaces are the ideal choice for offices, homes, schools and commercial enclaves. To bring out the best in tempered glass, count on AIS Glass. Our tempered glass is a very high-grade toughened glass, specially engineered to withstand harsh conditions. Rely on our team of experts to provide you with end-to-end services, from selection to installation, even after-sales support.

Get in touch today and enhance the safety of your home or office!

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Managing Wind On A 100-Floor Building

Managing Wind on a 100-Floor Building

Up until the rapid increase in urbanisation, superstructures such as 100-floor+ buildings were a luxuriant sight. Today, fuelled by a dearth of land area and the demands imposed by multi-millionaires and billionaires for high-rise buildings that offer the experience of being “on top of the world,” 100-floor skyscrapers are commonplace structures. One can find super-tall, skinny buildings in almost every metropolitan city in the world. But designing such colossal edifices means overcoming several challenges of which wind load seems to be the most predominant. 

Wind Resistance: A Vital Consideration in Constructing 100-Floor Super-Structures 

Notwithstanding the demand for buildings with beanstalk proportions, a major architectural challenge in constructing such structures is that the taller a building, the more likely it is to sway at the top owing to high wind loads. 

For instance, on a standard breezy day, a building that has 100 floors may sway a couple of inches at the top, according to consulting engineers Rowan Williams Davies and Irwin, but once each year can be experienced strong wind forces that travel 50 miles per hour and can move a superstructure with 100 floors about half a foot. But that’s not all, at least once every 50 years, winds with even greater velocities, around 100 miles per hour, are capable of making the tower deflect as much as even two feet! 

Now, not only can such swaying movements prove to be a safety hazard, but they can also make the occupants of such superstructures woozy. This is especially a serious matter of consideration if the 100-floor building in question is a residential one. After all, not many people want to feel like they’re living on a giant pendulum! 

As a result, architects and construction engineers include dampening and enveloping systems onto such superstructures that can act as shock absorbers and keep the occupants safe from the high velocity of wind forces that blow at such enormous heights – weight per square unit area of a building decreases with increasing height. 

While designing buildings that have 100 floors and above, three kinds of wind load need to be taken into account – Uplift Wind Load or the upward pressure of the wind forces on horizontal structures such as the roof, Shear Wind Load or horizontal pressure on the walls and vertical structures, and Lateral Wind Load or horizontal wind pressure that can overturn the building by affecting its ballast. 

Overcoming the Wind-Load Challenge with Glazed Glass Facades 

One construction material that has gained popularity as the protective shield of 100-floor edifices has been glass. However, it is important to keep in mind that all glass structures and installations should be designed to offer a wind resistance of at least 0.5kN/m² (500 Pa). Glass glazing systems; triple-glazing systems to be precise are designed to withstand the forces of the wind. 

Glass envelopes or glazed glass facades are strong enough to withstand some of the harshest weather elements, be it the sun’s heat, rain, or high-velocity winds. Moreover, since such glass facades do not rust or weather, environmental effects will not damage the aesthetics of huge structures such as 100-floor buildings. 

The load-bearing capabilities of such glazed glass facades depend on various components – required thickness of the glass, framing members, and size of brackets – all of which will be dictated by the wind loads in the area. For this, advanced engineering methods such as wind tunnel testing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are used. These methods help in accurate prediction of the wind pressure – critical in designing complex 100-floor superstructures. 

If the inter-story drifts are high owing to high wind and seismic loads, the façade systems may require customisation, such as wider vertical joints or stiffer façade profiles. 

Let’s consider the example of two such 100+ floor superstructures optimised using glass facades for wind –resistance. The Port Baku Tower 2 is located in Azerbaijan, where each of the two towers measures 240m and 100m in height respectively. This super-huge shopping facility is constructed using complex facade geometry – a unitised curtain wall that is curved in the southern face of the building, creating a spectacular skylight over the entrance area. In total, 12 different façade typologies have been included for protection against wind forces. The bespoke façade designs had to be created owing to differential wind pressure in the podium area (4.0 kPa) and the main tower areas (-7.5 kPa). Accommodations for even inter-story drifts were made. 

Wind-proofing 100-Floor Buildings with AIS

For providing a strong foundation for 100-floor superstructures, AIS provides a comprehensive range of glass facades solutions that are multi-functional – providing resistance against the sun’s extreme heat and harmful UV rays, rains, and high-velocity wind forces. They also provide optimal natural lighting and maintain ideal indoor temperatures throughout the year. Discover the benefits of in an architect’s guide to glass facade with AIS Glasxperts. So, what are you waiting for? Enveloping 100-floor buildings against the impact of high-velocity wind forces is easy with AIS ! Get in touch today and get an expert consultation. 

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5 Things You Should Know About Flat Glass

Facts about Flat Glass
Facts about Flat Glass

 Glass has undoubtedly secured its position in the world of architecture and interior designing, having no competitors to challenge its fluid aesthetic appeal and innovative functionalities. But, the supreme evolution of glass to as we know it today had its origins in a special type of glass, known as float, annealed, or even flat glass.

Invented in 1959, this glass is made using some of the most abundant raw materials found on the earth’s surface like silica sand, limestone, soda ash, dolomite, and glass cullet.    

How Is Float Glass Made?

Float glass is made by melting the aforementioned items in a 1600°C preheated furnace and then pouring them onto a shallow bath of molten tin. This molten glass is allowed to cool on the tin by spreading itself out to form a flat surface. After cooling, the glass pane solidifies and flattens out evenly, which is why it is occasionally also called flat glass. Rollers run on top the glass’ surface to pull and stretch it out, in case a thinner finish is needed. 

The cooling process is not as straightforward as it sounds. Molten glass is slowly brought down from the fierce temperature of 600°C to about 100°C. After the glass has cooled down, it is trimmed to remove any uneven or excess glass. These spare glass shavings are used as cullet for newer batches. The whole process is recyclable and highly sustainable, with almost nothing going to waste.

The process of cooling glass down in a controlled and monitored manner is called annealing. Annealing awards the glass pane higher density and a higher refractive index. Tinted float glass is manufactured by pouring colouring agents during the melting process. Iron, cobalt and selenium are used to make green, grey, bronze and blue tints. 

Applications of Flat Glass

Flat glass or Annealed glass is commonly used for commercial as well as residential purposes. Let us look at its applications in detail –

Residential Real Estate

Flat glass is commonly used for small windows that do not need to withstand high temperatures or pressures. Float glass can shatter into sharp shards on impact, which is why it is mostly made to undergo heat strengthening, tempering, insulation, lamination, and other such processes to improve and increase its applications. An annealed glass pane that has further gone through a strengthening process has multifarious applications.

Commercial Glazing

Flat glass has become quite popular for constructing the exterior of commercial spaces. It gives the dwellers an impression of being outside, along with a sense of openness. All stories begin with float glass. This foundational glass pane goes through a heat toughening treatment before it is installed in office buildings, restaurants, retail outlets, display cases, etc.

Five Characteristics of Flat Glass

Since flat glass boasts superior clarity, it allows for a higher degree of light to pass through it. Using windows made of flat glass allows a healthy amount of natural light to permeate into your homes or offices and makes them bright and cheery.

Available in Several Tints

If you love glass but your home or office is in direct line of solar glare, fret not! Flat glass is available in several tints and shades, with an ability to produce a diverse range of translucencies. You can choose among bronze, grey, green, blue, etc. Tinted annealed glass allows a comfortable amount of natural light to shower through but acts as a solid barrier between you and the glare to keep you safe from ultraviolet (UV) rays as well infrared (IR) rays. 

Easily Mouldable 

Since this type of glass can be cut, drilled, polished and fileted after fabrication, it can be customised to precisely match your design sensibilities, before putting it through the irreversible processes of tempering or lamination. 

Eco-friendly

The process of manufacturing flat glass leaves no waste and is environment-friendly. All the extra glass shards that get trimmed off go back in the furnace to be recycled. This makes the entire process sustainable.

Available in Multiple Thickness Options

Flat glass can be made to order in various dimensions and densities, which is awarding it with new and unique applications. For example, with modern advancements, manufacturers have now started producing ultra-thin float glass that has applications in televisions, computer, and mobile phone hardware.

Easy to Maintain

Flat glass does not collect a lot of dust or grime and stays placid for years on end. However, it is always a good idea to care for your door and window glass panels to ensure that they stay dust-free. Wipe your float glass windows once a week with a soft, damp cloth. Use a microfiber cloth for best results. You can also use soapy water to wipe any grime or debris off its surface. Make sure that you leave no soap residue on the panes towards the end of the cleaning process, as this will attract more dirt.

The Bottom Line

Looking for flat glass for your next project? Turn to AIS Glass for all your glass-related needs. We are a subsidiary of the leading glass manufacturer in India – Asahi India Glass Limited – and provide end-to-end glass-related services for over three decades. Rely on our team of professionally-trained technicians to help you select the right glass for your home or office.

So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

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Managing Glare on a 99 Floor Building

Ever since glass has gained ground as the principal construction material in the world of architecture and design, the sky has been the limit. A combination of undeniable aesthetic appeal and powerful functionality has enabled glass to enjoy a unique sort of supremacy.

The delicate, visual feel of transparency and water that glass exudes, makes it the building material of choice for optimum daylighting. As stated by Le Corbusier, “Architecture is the masterly, correct, and magnificent play of masses brought together in light,” this relationship between architecture and light continues to influence us today.

Daylighting: Finding the Right Balance

One of the prime design concerns of an architectural project is creating an atmosphere conducive to the inhabitants of a space, while maintaining its aesthetic value. A good part of this process involves lending a space the right degree of daylight. After all, as said by the famous architect, Louis Kahn, “A room is not a room without natural light.”

Any architect worth their salt understands the impact of adequate exposure to natural light on the productivity and overall well-being of a space’s inhabitants – residential or commercial. When it comes to sky-rise buildings with as many as 99 floors, the stakes are even higher.

Multi-faceted challenges await architects and interior designers involved in daylight autonomy design solutions out of which managing glare seems to be the trickiest to tackle. An overabundance of natural light can have detrimental effects on the building and its occupants; think sunburn, reduced visibility, and fading. The answer, as always, lies in moderation. An optimum degree of glare or a ‘balance of luminance’ on the 99th floor is key to the occupants’ well-being. Given the reduced sensitivity of the human eye at high luminance, the range of luminance or glare must ideally remain between 150 to 200 cd/m².

Moreover, daylight autonomy metrics can only be improved through dynamic fenestration strategies since the conventional methods of tinting windows or installing overhangs will essentially block out natural light in the process of reducing glare. Designing enlarged windows, on the other hand, will defeat the purpose of optimal glare management.

This calls for a carefully crafted solution that fuses aesthetics with specialised functionality. There is a clear winner in many a designer’s books – smart glass.

Dealing with Glare: The Smart Way

Conventional glare control strategies centred on static glazing methods. However, the on-demand economy has brought with it the emergence of dynamic technologies such as the smart glass, whose opacity levels can be controlled with the switch of a button.

Simply put, smart glass, also known as switchable glass, dynamic glass, or electrochromic glass, is a type of processed glass manufactured using the Suspended Particle Device (SPD) technology. Designed especially for the purpose of building enveloping, smart glass is developed using a thin film laminate of rod-like nano-scale particles suspended in a liquid (polymer base), and subsequently placed between two panes of glass or attached to one layer.

When an electric current is passed through the glass pane(s), the liquid crystals align themselves in a straight line, allowing light to pass through (the glass becomes transparent). On blocking the passage of electric current, the liquid crystals become scattered, thus enhancing opacity levels. In this way, living or working in a sky-rise building, especially the 99th floor is a whole lot easier with smart glass’s anti-glare properties.

Unmatched Comfort on Demand

The variable light transmission properties of smart glass bring a world of unmatchable benefits to the table that makes it an ideal pick for lofty buildings. A prominent advantage is the control over daylighting that it offers. You no longer need to deal with the woes of choosing one for the other (natural light or reduced glare). With smart glass, you can enjoy natural light without compromising on your vision by controlling its opacity levels through a remote. For 99-floor buildings that receive no dearth of natural light, smart glass paves the way towards moderation.

Besides being in control of your space’s ambience, smart glass gives you complete control over your privacy. For times when you must enjoy moments of solitude, simply switch off the electric current and enjoy unprecedented privacy. For times when you’re feeling more outdoorsy, go alfresco by switching the smart glass on and make the most of the sky-high view the 99th floor has to offer.

What’s more, smart glass also tops the charts in terms of environmental sustainability. Its controllable heat-transmission properties regulate the internal temperature such that the need for mechanical heating or cooling and artificial lighting is significantly reduced, naturally leading to lower energy consumption and energy bills.

And most importantly, electrochromic glass is highly durable with no visible loss of efficiency found even following years of field testing. As a result, you can get rid of your worries regarding the maintenance of blinds or curtains. A one-time investment is all it takes to enhance the aesthetics and functionality of your spaces.

So, be it the famous Burj Khalifa, Shanghai tower, sky-rise apartments with 99 floors, hospitals, universities, corporate offices, or any other sky-scraping superstructure capable of making you crane your neck in awe, a switch to smart glass is a one-stop-solution to deal with the many challenges surrounding the maximisation of daylighting. Creating open, comfortable, and welcoming spaces that contribute to productivity, energy conservation, and overall well-being has never been this easy!

Choose AIS Swytchglas For Your 99-Floor Building

To beat the heat and light in style, embrace the revolutionary AIS Swytchglas – the key to managing glare on the 99th floor! Our smart glass takes less than 10 microseconds to activate, blocks up to 50% of the light in its “Off” mode, works between temperatures from 0 degrees to 55 degrees Celsius, can last for a minimum of 20,000 cycles, and is available in a variety of colour tints.

With AIS Swytchglas, you get the freedom to control the amount of heat and light entering into your space, even if it’s the 99th floor of a skyscraper simply by using a remote control.

You can install AIS Swytchglas in doors, partition walls, windows, skylights, facades, and a whole lot of other places. For managing glare, make the smart move today with AIS Glass! Get in touch for a consultation today and discover how our premium suite of solutions can serve your needs.

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How Do You Manage Efficiency of Work With Day Light

Manage Efficiency of Work With Day Light

Form always follows function and never the other way around. This is the fundamental principle of design and architecture since time immemorial. The essence of this doctrine iterates that the function of a building should decide its composition. Recognising the true purpose behind any construction is the primary condition for its design. A physical place of work, therefore, should motivate an employee to feel productive, and the infrastructure of that place has a huge role to play in the psyche of an individual. 

Productivity at Work Is Higher Under the Gleaming Sun

Countless studies have proven that humans have an unrelenting need to experience ample daylight routinely to stay productive. The reason behind this is our body’s circadian rhythm.

The human circadian rhythm is our body’s natural clock which makes us feel and do certain things during certain times of the day. There is a reason why most of us do not feel like going to work at night or sleeping during the day. There exists insurmountable evidence that daylight keeps the circadian rhythm in check. Messing up this rhythm pushes humans into feelings of depression, disruptive sleep patterns, lethargy, dysfunctionality, etc. Exposing your body to natural light during the day and darkness during the night ensures a healthy circadian rhythm which elevates functionality.

Therefore, efficiency at work is closely linked with daylight. Studies conducted by the Lighting Research Centre at the Rensselaer Institute in New York have concluded that employees in offices with little or no natural light spend lesser time on their work stations as compared to employees working in windowed offices with ample daylight. The positive impacts of natural light on productivity make a compelling case to incorporate daylight while designing buildings, both residential and commercial.

It can be comfortably said that daylight ensures efficiency and productivity by improving employee alertness, improving the indoor experience (employees find it more comfortable to sit on their desks for longer), and leading to feelings of higher positivity and energy.

How Do You Achieve Optimal Daylight Management in Offices?

You achieve it through the right kind of glass. It is as simple as that! Modern-day architects understand the need for gargantuan glass windows in offices, through which pure daylight can enter. Moreover, modern-day glass solutions come with energy-efficiency and optimal glare management features, ensuring that while optimum natural light enters into a space, it does not disrupt work by bringing in unnecessary heat and glare with it.

Factors to Consider While Choosing Glass for the Workplace

Be Wary of Energy Inefficiency

The standard glass absorbs a lot more heat compared to most materials. Therefore, it makes economic sense to choose a glass that does not absorb much heat and saves energy required to heat up or cool down an office building. Glass with high energy-efficiency clubbed with aesthetics will complete the utility spectrum for commercial buildings.       

Define Your Visual Needs 

Identify the window direction, the glare possible and the amount of privacy required. If you have an east-facing office overlooking the street, get a tinted double-glazed window glass. The tint is for added privacy. The double glazing is to increase the strength and reduce the solar potency and the subsequent glare which is the highest during the day. You can also opt for switchable or smart glass that offers you the freedom to control its opacity levels with a hand-held remote device. Moreover, you get the added benefit of having privacy on demand.

Adjust Artificial Lighting to Suit Daylighting, Not the Other Way Around

This is a no-brainer. If artificial lighting is required during the day along with the natural light, reduce the former’s potency. Bright artificial lighting during the day culls the efficacy of natural light that ushers in through ginormous glazed windows.

Consider Ultraviolet (UV) Protection

Sunlight that reaches us is made up of UV-A and UV-B rays. While glass filters out UV-B rays, the UV-A rays are deeper and get through the glass. This may cause skin damage and irritation. If your building’s direction eats up too much sunlight, then consider investing in glass solutions that offer UV protection.

Which Glass Works Best for Daylight Inclusion?

The solution is a high-performance and energy-efficient glass which allows for day light inclusion, but absorbs and reflects away UV rays and near-range infrared heat. A good example would be the Ecosense Exceed Solar Control Low-E glass manufactured by AIS Glass. This range provides a complete solution by keeping indoor spaces brighter and cooler while allowing a good amount of natural light to seep through.

Investing and procuring the best quality glass is critical for not just the design of your commercial complex, but also for the productivity of the employees working within that structure. The experts at AIS Glass understand this, which is why we are a leading player manufacturing high-performance, heat-reflective, energy-efficient glass solutions. The Ecosense Exceed Solar Control Low-E glass by AIS provides the perfect blend of energy efficiency and daylighting coupled with the benefits of visual and thermal comforts. Gift your employees the workspace they deserve with AIS Ecosense glass range.

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