Privacy vs Open Balustrade Ideas

The balustrade is essential to consider when designing a balcony. A balustrade design can provide either unrestricted views from the balcony or a high level of privacy outdoors for residents. Based on your requirements, you can choose elements that offer your residents a mix of privacy and open balustrades. If this is what you’re looking for, here are some balustrade ideas for you to consider for your upcoming project:

Open Balustrade Ideas

Having a great view makes residents feel part of their surroundings. Open balustrades offer great unrestricted views, and for such purpose a clear glass or vertical bar balcony can be an excellent choice. Here are some suggestions you could opt for to maintain an open view from the balcony:

Rectangular Clear Glass Balcony with Fascia Covering Fixings

Clear, toughened, laminated glass with a 48 mm round anodised aluminium capping top rail and a folded 2 mm fascia in front of the glass offers a great view and acts as a wind screen on the balcony.

Corner Right Side Glass Balcony

This balcony design has a clear, toughened, laminated glass balustrade, a 48 mm round anodised Ali capping top rail and a folded 2 mm fascia on the front and the left side. The Corner Right Side Glass Balcony is an excellent option for an open balustrade but with wind protection for residents.

Corner Left Side Glass Balcony

For those looking for an open balustrade that provides wind protection for residents, the Corner Left Side Glass Balcony is the style to go for. It has a clear, toughened, laminated glass balustrade, a 48 mm round anodised aluminium capping top rail and a folded 2 mm fascia on the front and the right side.

Balustrade Ideas Offering Privacy

For privacy outdoors, opaque, printed glass or solid screens can be appropriate choices. These offer the highest levels of privacy on the balcony. A mix of vertical bars and solid screens can also be a good choice for medium levels of privacy outdoors. Here are some designs to inspire you:

Rectangular Opaque Glass Balcony with Screen-Printed Band

This balcony design comes with a screen-printed band; it uses an obscure, toughened, laminated glass balustrade with a 48 mm round anodised aluminium capping top rail and a screen-printed band with a point fixings fascia. This design is excellent as it offers residents the maximum in privacy outdoors and wind protection.

Rectangular Vertical Bar Balcony with Solid End Panels

Made with extruded aluminium vertical bars on the front, a rectangular two-part PPC extruded aluminium top rail and a PPC, cassette-structure, behind-bars fascia, with sides constructed using a 200 mm-thick solid end wall. The Rectangular Vertical Bar Balcony with Solid End Panels offers residents a mix of unrestricted views and a medium level of privacy, as well as medium-level wind protection on their balconies.

Vertical Bar Balcony Between Walls, with Positive Drainage

This balcony design is created between walls, with a positive drainage balustrade constructed using 40 x 12 extruded aluminium vertical bars, a rectangular two-part PPC extruded aluminium top rail and a folded 2 mm fascia in front of the bars on one side. The right and left sides of the balcony do not require a balustrade as this balcony is designed to be between walls. This design offers residents basic levels of wind protection and outdoor privacy.

Designing Balconies to Serve Residents’ Needs

You can use various online tools to design the right balcony and get a better idea of what it will look like. One such tool is COACH by Sapphire Balconies; it embodies insights from over 25 years of working closely with architects and builders.

COACH helps you create bespoke balconies using pre-designed options from a vast design library. It also provides the opportunity to design your balcony from scratch. The tool intuitively guides you through the specifications and the various other design aspects, helping you create fully compliant balconies. It also allows you to check the view from different perspectives to ensure that residents’ needs are met.