Glass Canopy Over the Building Entrance: Its Functions and Types

A Glass Canopy Over the Entrance Doors! A Beautiful Design Element or a Practical Necessity!? 

Your home or office entrance is more than just a door! It's the boundary between the outside world and the sanctuary of the indoors. It sets the tone for what lies beyond. In combining functionality and aesthetics, every detail is important. 

Glass canopies stand out as a superior choice, offering protection, safety, and an elegant design that can enhance any facade.  

Properties of Tempered Glass 

When choosing a glass canopy, the material selection is extremely important. Tempered glass is known for its durability and safety features. It's designed to be stronger than regular glass, and if it breaks, it crumbles into small pieces, not sharp shards, significantly reducing the risk of injury. Due to this safety aspect, tempered glass is ideally suited for glass canopies over entrances, where people's safety is just as important as protecting the entrance doors themselves. 

Laminated Glass: Double Safety 

For those seeking additional safety and durability, laminated glass is the answer. Combining two sheets of tempered glass with an interlayer, typically made from Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB), results in a sturdy glass composite known as laminated safety glass. Using 6mm, 8mm, or 10mm thick laminated tempered glass (66.2, 88.2, or 1010.2 compositions respectively) for your canopy provides extra protection against impacts, shields from adverse weather conditions, precipitation, snow, and falling debris. 

Dimensions of Glass Canopies 

A canopy over the entrance is not just a practical structure designed to protect against precipitation and direct sunlight. Made of glass, they also lend a modern elegance to your entrance area. 

The recommended width should be at least 40 to 50 centimeters wider than the entrance door frame and deep enough to cover the open door leaf, or at least 1000mm, to protect both the door and people. It is especially important to protect wooden exterior doors from precipitation and direct sunlight. For example, if the entrance door frame width is 1000mm, a canopy with glass dimensions of 1000-1100mm x 1500-1600mm would be very suitable. 

Methods of Reinforcement   

Glass canopies can be installed regardless of whether your building facade is made of wood, insulated or not. Appropriate technical solutions must be chosen. 

Installation methods can be divided into two categories - hanging and bottom-supported. 

A very popular choice is hanging glass canopies, which require 80 to 100 centimeters of free space above the entrance for attachment to the wall. Hanging canopies can also be fixed on vertical profiles of glass facades. For this purpose, specific insert parts are used. 

However, if there is a window in this area or not enough free space, the solution is to support the glass from below. Special supporting brackets can be used. These supports can be made of polished stainless steel or painted in any tone of the RAL color palette to match your windows, doors, or sills.

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To achieve a truly minimalistic and modern look, consider another method of canopy installation, where one edge of the glass is fixed in a special aluminum profile attached to the facade. This creates the impression that the glass canopy is “floating” above the entrance, with almost invisible fixings. However, it is important to note that this method limits the size of the canopy - with two 10mm tempered laminated glasses, the maximum size from the wall to the outer edge of the glass is 1500mm. This type of glass fixing is also not convenient for insulated facades. For this method of glass fixing, it is advisable to prepare the intended attachment point in advance.

A Glass Canopy is a Smart Investment for Your Building 

A glass canopy is more than just a shield against the weather! It is an expressive design element that reflects your attention to detail and quality. 

With a combination like tempered, laminated glass and stainless steel fixtures, you can be confident that your entrance will not only be well protected, but also exude elegance and modernity. It's an investment in both functionality and appeal.