Positioned in Glasgow’s stylish Merchant City, the Corinthian has fantastic architecture and also has unique detailing inside. For entrance to the private function area you have to go upstairs and walk along the balcony. This is were we realised something quite unusual and different from what you would normally expect. 

The balcony had pillars aligned the edge of it, as if it has for support and to help the wooden floor to be more secure. 

Then we noticed how the glass balustrade, which you could look over to the ground floor, was not attached to the pillars and an approximately a 2inch gap was visible at both ends of the balustrade. The balustrades were thick panels of glass that had been sunken into the wooden flooring. I believe the wooden floor had a slice cut so a metal channel could be positioned, then glue added so that when the balustrade is inserted it will be very deep, therefore adding support and strength if people lean against it.

The Apple Store situated in Glasgow city centre houses a unique and interesting glass staircase ,which is visually stunning and impressively well designed. The eye-catching feature stands out immediately upon entry to the building and, as intended, attracts visitors to take a look upstairs.

As I began to look more closely at the stairs themselves I was amazed at how the glass stairs were supported and strong enough to hold several bod

ies at the same time. The steps are jointed using a custom-built connector, there are four layers of glass sheets laminated together with what I believe is a bonding layer of glue and finished with a texture on the tread. I also noticed there were two slices of metal, cutting between the layers and sticking out and then welded into the custom made built joint. 

The connecting part which is attached to the custom built joint helps to provide support to the side glass panel which is used as the banister. This again, looks to me, to be built the same way as the steps, just not as many layers of glass. When i looked at the opposite side of the stair cases side panel the custom built joint was positioned and finished with three screws to hold in place.

Process of Design