Masonry Magazine August 1998 Page. 17
Glass Block
by Waren Wind
Weck "Pearl" of clear windows. The front elevation, facing the street, featured large windows of glass block, combining drama, style and privacy.
In two-story homes and commercial buildings, you will often find glass block celestery windows above foyers, halls, stairways and great rooms.
No longer for bathrooms only
Long a practical privacy glass for bathroom windows, today's many glass block options have inspired translucent embellishments that go far beyond tub and shower enclosures. As the size of bathrooms has expanded, so has the use of glass block for tiles and open walls with finished-edge corners, curved and angled panels that add color, texture and interest. Some builders mix contemporary European block colors including watery greens, blues and corrals to add to the spa atmosphere. Others add dramatic indirect light (including colored light) behind shower walls or bath enclosures.
Though bathrooms are still the favorite interior space to use glass block, this versatile material can today be found in virtually any room, niche or hallway through the home.
Kitchen remodelers are more and more using glass block as an interior design element. Particularly popular is the use of glass block with curved corners as bases for kitchen worktops. Curved block walls and windows provide low-maintenance surfaces for dine-in kitchens. (Back splashes of Pittsburgh Coming "Spyra" glass block wipe clean in a flash.) And, of course, accents of glass pattern and light add cheery interest for the cook and diners alike.
Sharing light between rooms
Other remodelers are using glass block to convert outside walls into windows. That lets them "share" the daylight with adjoining spaces through strategic placement of interior landscape dividers with open edges and gentle curves. Glass block permits up to 80% light transmission. At the same time, it refracts and reflects the light through interior walls of the same material, creating a translucent separation that both obscures and reveals at the same time.
Glass block interiors soften light, add changing interest. Dramatic glass block partitions coax light into far corners of a room, without sacrificing privacy. Room colors can be controlled with a combination of natural and artificial lighting, diffused and reflected by glass block dividers in a choice of textures or patterns.
Colors that encourage two-tone interiors
Two years ago, Weck introduced four subtle colors to the U.S., complementing the German manufacturer is Goldtone, introduced earlier. Block colors include peach, green, blue and gray. These five soft colors appeal to contemporary tastes for decors with two-tone pallets of the same color, particularly in baths. Other builders and remodelers choose to break up monochromatic glass block walls with contemporary rows of color.
In this manner, for example, people can coordinate green tiles or marble floors with light green block. Or add a glow to a bathroom with a row of peach blocks. A row of light gray blocks would complement tiles of darker marble or granite. Colors add daylight moods that change through the day. They can also be backlit at night to add atmosphere after sunset.