CREJ - Journal

Page 14

— Property Management Quarterly — May 2015

ack-painted glass contin-

ues to increase in popular-

ity for use as a decorative

architectural glass product

for interior space in com-

mercial, institutional and residential

projects. There are many reasons for

the trend’s continued growth. The

leading reason is that the product

is a modern alternative to ceramic

tile, stone and laminates, and back-

painted glass offers endless color

choices, allowing vibrant colors to

be brought into workspaces.

Office space is seeing the largest

increase of this glass for use as wall

coverings, dry-erase glass marker

boards, reception areas, room divid-

ers, workspace dividers, elevators,

elevator lobbies, escalator walls, cor-

porate signage, countertops, glass

stairs, and in furniture applica-

tions such as glass tops and doors.

Dry-erase glass marker boards are

popular and now feature several

options that can be added to the

glass, including an easily cleanable

nonglare surface, magnetic backs

for use as a glass-magnetic board,

and frames that allow the marker

boards to be easily demounted and

relocated.

Many projects seeking LEED sta-

tus use back-painted glass as a wall

covering, which allows the reflec-

tion of natural light. Installations

completed with either low-volatile

organic compound adhesives or no

VOC adhesives could contribute to

LEED credits.

The glass trend is also gaining

popularity in health care projects

that incorporate color therapy into

treatment areas

and patient-care

rooms. The use as

message boards

in nurses sta-

tions and patient-

care rooms have

increased dramati-

cally. One of the

reasons for this

uptick in popular-

ity is because the

glass is nonporous,

easy to clean and

can withstand

the harsh clean-

ing required by medical facilities.

Back-painted glass can be produced

in large sizes, thus allowing for the

reduction of the number of seams,

further reducing places where

germs can get trapped.

Restaurants use the back-painted

glass for menu boards, tabletops,

kitchen walls and countertops. Glass

countertops are ideal in a kitchen

for similar reasons as medical cen-

ters, because glass is nonporous and

reduces the risk of food cross con-

tamination. Backsplashes in kitch-

ens and bathrooms and vanity tops

are the primary multifamily uses.

Retailers realized that back-painted

glass can add a modern look by

adding bright colors or corporate

colors to their showroom space and

is an excellent product for enhanc-

ing the brightness of the stores.

The trend is gaining popularity

because it is easy to maintain, the

glass substrate is nonporous as

well as resistant to moisture and

fumes. If the glass has too much

reflection, the reflectivity of glass

can be controlled with the use of

surface-etched glass. Glass with

etched European patterns can be

back-painted for an upscale look to

the project.

If considering back-painted glass,

it is important that the glass is

manufactured using a low iron-

glass substrate in order to achieve

the closet color match to the color

specified, which is especially true

for light and bright colors. Using a

“regular clear” glass substrate will

prevent light colors and bright col-

ors from being replicated. Equally

important in the decision is the

manufacturer’s product warranty. A

complete written warranty should

be obtained from the supplier and

retained for the entire warranty

period.

Back-painted glass is available as

annealed, safety tempered or lami-

nated and can be custom fabricated

to fit most applications.

Vick Channel

National sales

manager, Summit

Glass Coatings,

Englewood

Design Trends

Back-painted glass gains design popularity

Courtesy: Summit Glass Coatings

A local Whole Foods uses back-painted glass as its wall covering.