When you partner with SpeedPro Imaging Services Group for architectural glass signs, finishes and privacy panes, you get more than bright, light installations. You breathe new life into your old space. These decorative, specialty glass fixtures add something few graphics can. Balancing form with function and detailing with simplicity, natural light and appropriate levels of privacy, architectural finishes let you transform your office into the ideal workplace.
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Ready to reimagine how your office, storefront, restaurant, hotel, spa — you name it — can look? A little architectural glass finishing goes a long way
WHAT IS PRIVACY GLASS?
Privacy glass goes by many names, such as frosted glass, etched glass, architectural glass, decorative windows or indoor glass partitions. Naming aside, these wide-format fixtures refer to glass-based surface prints that provide practical and/or aesthetic benefits to an indoor space — often simultaneously.
Wherever glass is used in commercial spaces, a finished architectural print form can be added on top to adorn, embellish and accentuate.
- Meeting and conference rooms windows
- As room partitions, since they are sleeker and more contemporary than traditional partitions
- As accent walls in lobbies, reception areas and entryways
- As privacy windows for storefronts, organizations and offices facing distracting outdoor foot traffic
- As elegant and enhanced windows for storefronts
PRIVACY GLASS TYPES
Architectural privacy glass comes with a suite of customizations. Whether you are looking for a 3D window effect to add to your conference room or creative privacy glass for individual work stations, there are a bevy of different options that ensure you find the right solution for your company branding.
Glass customizations are achieved using select film and finishing techniques. Depending on the appearance and function for your order’s glass, a certain finishing method and level of detailing will create the final transformative piece. At SpeedPro Imaging Services Group, you can select from the following premium privacy glass types:
1. GLASS FILMS
Glass films are decorative adhesive patterns applied to glass surfaces. They open up a whole new world of design and aesthetic possibilities for their plain glass template, from pops of texture to refractory embellishments to unique color striations.
This versatility makes them a keen choice for wall branding or glass-finished signage displayed on strategic commercial walls. Adhesive glass films can be layered atop most smooth and clean glass surfaces, especially when the preference is specified at fabrication. They are ideal for times when you need to temporarily apply a design or add extra privacy to some glass, as they can be applied, removed and reapplied with ease.
2. FROSTED GLASS
Frosted glass or window frosting has its name for a reason. Signs, screens and walls fabricated from it hold a foggy and matted appearance that veils vision, traditionally by obscuring clear shapes and forms rather than blocking sight altogether. This opaque, shape-muddling surface is what gives panels with this finish type their “frosted” look.
Frosted glass usually involves a process of sand-blasting the glass to get the look you want. With printed frosted glass, you are able to achieve the frosted effect you are looking for without permanently scarring your glass, allowing you the flexibility to change the look of your glass as needed. Frosted glass looks great as architectural signage as well as interior and exterior windows alike, providing glass a classic, pearly plane. To give you a better idea of how you might use frosted glass, consider the following applications:
- Exterior office windows: If you have an office on a busy street, where people regularly walk or drive by, frosted glass is great for stopping pedestrians from looking in. The frosted glass prevents distractions in the workplace as well as giving employees a greater sense of privacy while still letting light into the building.
- Conference room walls: Many conference rooms made with glass are located where employees might be close by and able to look into the room where meetings are taking place. Installing frosted glass films onto a conference room’s glass walls ensures people stay more focused in the meeting and keeps out unwanted eyes.
- Decorative signage: Frosted glass is for more than improving the privacy of your office. They can also be used to decorate your building. You can etch your company logo on an exterior window to enhance its appearance or in the interior for extra decoration.
3. TINTED GLASS
Tinted glass is made of panels and screens chemically altered to change their base color. Both the shade and the density of the glass will be altered depending on tint, with functional benefits like UV-ray protection, heat retainment in the winter and cold retainment in the summer included. Tinted glass colors should not change or fade over time.
For durability and climate control capabilities, tinted glass is commonly used in outdoor applications, such as embellishing contemporary building facades or as stylish fixtures on decks, patios and rooftops. Tinted glass films can be applied over a glass pane for simple and swappable coloration. To illustrate the many applications of tinted glass, consider the following ways that companies regularly use tinted glass:
- Offices or stores that need to reduce sun: While natural light is great in offices and stores, too much of it can be a problem, making the building heat up too much or reducing visibility in the building. Tinted glass helps to block excess sunlight. For office workers, this ensures they stay comfortable while working, and for stores, the reduced sunlight helps shoppers have optimal visibility and also keep products from spoiling due to direct sunlight.
- Accent walls: If you’re attempting to add an extra creative touch to an interior, tinted glass can help create accent walls. Walls or partitions made with tinted glass come in many colors. Colored glass accent walls provide privacy, and they also can brand the space by coming in a company’s, school’s or organization’s colors.
4. REFLECTIVE GLASS
Reflective glass, or mirrored glass, is created by infusing a thin layer of metal into one side of the glass, then sealing it with a clear protective coat. The result can be a traditional or one-way mirror. Reflective glass carries a high-metallic gloss, high-sheen appearance with clear light and image refraction.
When it’s installed for aesthetic touches, reflective glass gives rooms and fixtures a modern yet sophisticated feel. It makes smaller rooms appear larger and larger rooms brighter, amplifying spatial airiness and openness. For external applications, reflective glass deflects UV rays and is used for “curtain wall” facade glazing. You can often find reflective glass being used in:
- Tall buildings: Reflective glass is often installed onto a skyscraper’s facade to improve privacy for those working inside, while also reducing solar heat gain.
- Stores: Since reflective glass provides a one-way mirror effect, it’s great for improving security at stores. From a backroom, security guards can keep an eye on shoppers, stopping them from stealing merchandise.
- Smaller office spaces: Reflective glass can be used in the interior of smaller office spaces to make them look larger than they actually are.
5. SATIN GLASS
One of our most popular privacy glasses, satin glass is clean and pearlescent yet holds one of the highest and most evenly dispersed opacities of all glass types. It’s created by combining a clear glass sheet with hydrofluoric acid, creating the opaque window film you see. Satin’s high opacity lends itself well to obscuring shapes and images behind any partitions or panes, yet it won’t sacrifice its elegant appearance.
This glass comes with a matte rather than a glossy sheen and can be printed in various thicknesses. Due to its matte finish, it looks silky and smooth. The thicker the satin glass base film, the more obscured images and light will be. Check out some of the top uses of satin glass:
- Glass paneled doors: Whether it’s for your entrance way or the door to a personal office, you can use satin glass on glass doorways to provide greater privacy and allow light into the building or room the door leads into. Satin glass provides an attractive finish to doorways, improving the look of a space.
- Car dealership partitions: If you operate a car dealership or similar business where you need to have privacy during the final stages of a purchase, satin glass partitions are perfect. These partitions provide the needed privacy, keeping wandering eyes away from a customer’s financial information.
- Fitting rooms: Tailors and clothing stores often need to give people privacy while they dress. Thick satin glass can appear upscale while also blocking any sight into fitting rooms while people change.
- Bank wall partitions: Banks often have an open floor plan but still need privacy for times when a banker meets with clients. To give people the privacy they to feel comfortable discussing their finances while still maintaining the bank’s open floor plan, many banks choose satin glass partitions.
Partnering with SpeedPro Imaging Services Group
Here at our studio, we work with you through the entire process from ideation to installation. For many of our customers, redesigning their work space is uncharted territory. That is why our industry experts help guide you with best in-class products to achieve the office aesthetic that you are looking for. If you would like to get the process started with a free consultation, contact our studio today and a member of our staff would be happy to assist you.