Internal Glass Facades

One of the most remarkable things about glass is its versatility. This is the material, after all, that can be used to manufacture everything from tiny beads to glass bridges measuring hundreds of metres long.

Today's world is filled with glass structures. Often, these are high-budget civic projects for governments, galleries, libraries and the like. But the private sector, too, is filled with glazing galore – just look at the financial district of any major city.

And it's not just the exteriors that put glass front and centre. Notable architects also like to experiment with internal glass features, whether staircases, lifts or the topic of this article – facades.

An internal glass facade tends to refer to a floor-to-ceiling glass partition or wall used inside a building.

However, it can also be used more loosely to refer to any expanse of glass inside a building. In some cases, facades are double-glazed and consist of an external and internal glass facade.

They often play their part in complex glass constructions, helping to remove the boundary between interior and exterior spaces and filling the interior with natural light.

The internal glass facades we're looking at today are testaments to the creative ingenuity of architects from across the world. We hope they inspire and impress you in equal measure.

1. Reichstag building, Berlin, Germany

One of Berlin's most famous buildings, the Reichstag is the seat of the German federal government. Today, it boasts a remarkable dome designed by Sir Norman Foster.

The dome is made from glass and metal and symbolises transparency in government. Visitors can enter and enjoy 360° views of Berlin as well as views of the parliamentary debating chamber below.

The interior, however, is no less impressive than the exterior. It includes an inverted cone of 360 mirrored panels. This eye-catching dangling facade reflects daylight, ventilates the dome and features two intertwined spiral ramps for visitors to climb.

2. Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, France

For decades, if not centuries, concert halls have conformed to a certain style – sometimes disparagingly called "shoebox" venues.

Casa da Música in Porto, Portugal, is a reaction to this kind of building. The exterior is made from white concrete. Inside, however, the auditorium has corrugated glass facades that open onto the city.

The result is a building that makes classical music a part of the city rather than something shut off and sacred. As with so many forward-thinking buildings, glass plays a pivotal role.

5. The Broad, Los Angeles, USA

Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Broad gallery contains around 2,000 works of art from its collection, alongside temporary exhibitions.

The 120,000-square-foot building has two floors and follows a "veil and vault" concept. The veil is an outer honeycomb structure made from fibreglass and concrete.

Behind the veil is a sealed glass curtain wall that separates it from the gallery spaces. This filters natural light from outside, creating a soft, diffused, vault-like effect for the gallery users. Meanwhile, the ground floor lobby features an array of glass panels.

6. Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Japan

Designed by Toyo Ito in 1995 and completed in 2001, the Sendai Mediatheque library in Japan is a glass-and-metal wonder of the modern architectural world.

The building is remarkable for how it both stands out and blends in. Surrounded by mainly block-white buildings, it blends with neighbouring buildings thanks to its daytime reflections and night-time multi-coloured lighting.

The library has a double-glazed skin on its southern side consisting of an external and internal glass facade. This acts as a "buffer zone" between the book-filled interior and the world outside – a barrier that's both transparent and environmentally responsive.

7. The Opus, Dubai, UAE

This mixed-use building in Dubai's Burj Khalifa district was designed by Dame Zaha Hadid. It has a cube-like structure with an eight-storey-high, free-form void in its centre. This void houses the ME Dubai hotel, luxury flats, offices and eateries.

If "free-form void" sounds a little sci-fi to you, imagine a carved-out space inside a cube. It's wrapped in a continuous glass facade constructed from thousands of curved or double-curved glass panels.

This remarkable facade spans several storeys and turns into a glass roof at the top. Like many of these architectural feats, the effect is to dissolve the boundary between inside and out – and to create a space flooded with natural light.

What are internal glass facades made from?

Internal glass facades, like external glass facades, are made from high-performance safety glass – typically laminated or toughened and laminated glass.

These kinds of safety glass provide the strength, safety and acoustic control required for these kinds of settings.

Laminated glass is made from bonding a plastic interlayer between two sheets of glass. In the case of architectural glass, these outer panes tend to be toughened, too. These glass panels are often held up by glazing systems made from steel or aluminium.

Wrightstyle is a trusted UK curtain wall company and manufacturer of specialised steel glazing systems, including interior glazing systems. Don't hesitate to contact our experts for comprehensive, step-by-step technical advice.