Hillside residences enhanced with sleek balcony balustrades from Sapphire

The clean, contemporary lines of sleek balcony balustrades by Sapphire are contributing to the singular style of One Hove Park, a new residential development on the Sussex coast. Most of the scheme’s seventy-one apartments benefit from balconies or terraces from which residents can look out over the area’s abundant green spaces. The use of glazed balustrades from Sapphire’s Crystal frameless structural glass system, which has no vertical support posts to impede views, enhances the sense of light and space inside the high quality homes.

Located in the town of Hove, immediately to the west of Brighton, One Hove Park comprises one, two and three bedroom apartments constructed over five storeys. As well as its modern architectural design, the development was built with a fabric-first approach to sustainability, including the use of super-insulation and recycled bricks. Apartment balconies at One Hove Park are integrated structures, with concrete balconies that form an integral part of the building’s structural facade rather than being bolted on to it. The Crystal glass balustrades supplied for the project by Sapphire are installed in various panel configurations to suit smaller individual balconies and larger shared terrace structures.

Designed to comply with relevant British Standards, Sapphire’s frameless glass solution features toughened laminate glass panels, which are supported by innovative base fix channel systems. The elegant effect is completed by slim-line aluminium cappings with a durable powder-coated finish. As part of a comprehensive project package, Sapphire also provided obscured glass privacy screens between individual balconies and shared terraces.

All the sleek balcony balustrades and fixings for One Hove Park were designed by Sapphire to comply with relevant regulations and British Standards for structural performance and design loads, as well as specific safety regulations relating to residential applications. This included suitability for children, where BS6180 requires balustrades not to be easily climbable and to have no gaps of more than 100mm, to prevent a small child falling through.

Sapphire’s Nick Haughton, comments: “Balconies add floor space, architectural character and value to multi-occupancy residential developments. In this respect, the choice of balustrade plays an important aesthetic role. Glass balustrades, like these sleek balcony balustrades selected from Sapphire’s Crystal system for One Hove Park, provide the perfect balance of light, visibility, and safety, whilst also being very low maintenance.”