Toughened glass is heat-treated: heated to 620°C then rapidly cooled, creating compression stress in the surface that makes it much stronger. When it does eventually break, the internal stress causes it to shatter into small, blunt-edged granules rather than dangerous shards.
Laminated glass is a sandwich: two glass sheets bonded with a plastic interlayer (usually PVB — polyvinyl butyral). When broken, the glass fragments adhere to the interlayer, keeping the pane intact in the frame.
When to use toughened: Required by Building Regulations (Approved Document K / BS 6262-4) in critical locations: within 800mm of floor level, within 300mm of a door, door panels, side panels adjacent to doors, low-level glazing in bathrooms, and overhead glazing (inner pane).
When to use laminated: Best for security (ground floor, easily accessible windows), noise reduction (the PVB interlayer absorbs sound), UV protection (blocks 99% UV), and overhead glazing (outer pane — stays in frame if broken by falling objects).
Combining both: For maximum safety in overhead applications, the ideal specification is laminated outer pane (stays in frame if hit from above) with toughened inner pane (if it breaks, granules fall safely). We can produce units with any combination of glass types across panes.