Advanced Structural
Designs ACN 097 789 87
92 Vasey Cres CAMPBELL ACT 2612 Telephone
61612171
Facsimile 61612170 Email mal@structuraldesigns.com.au
Glass
Office Partitions
We have
recently had some experience with glass office partitions, which left us with
some severe reservations about the appropriateness of relying on the Australian
Standard (AS 1288) to deliver the appropriate glass thickness for this
application.
The
specification for the project required that all office partitions be capable of
carrying 0.25 kPa live load (Standard APG Tickbook). These requirements are met by the code
(AS1288 1994 Table 5.5) but the client and builder (Lend Lease) were not at all
happy with the flexibility of the resultant system. The builder paid to stiffen many of the glass
panels to provide what everyone perceived as a reasonable degree of stiffness.
We suggest
that when specifying office partitions, a height/240 maximum deflection should
be used in conjunction with the 0.25kPa live load. If you have any specific concerns relating to
the use, safety, patch fixings etc and require a structural engineer in
Canberra ACT to steer you in the right direction call Mal Wilson from Advanced
Structural Designs on (02) 61612171.
PS If you
want to see just how near invisible patch fixings can be or how far you can
cantilever toughened glass we suggest you visit Reconciliation Place and see
the Glass “Sliver” we designed in 2001.