A Symbiosis of Metal and Glass

By laminating metal meshes in multilayer glass MeshArt opens up interesting possibilities in both architecture and interior design.

The integration of woven metal meshes in glass is not new. Metal meshes already featured in that familiar variety of glass, wired glass. This glass was often used in safety-sensitive areas in the past. The coarse-weave metal mesh is already introduced to the molten glass during glass production.

Immediately after the float tank stage cylinders press the coarse-weave mesh into the still semi-liquid glass. The shortcoming here being that while wired glass still holds the large pieces of glass together when dropped, it does become unstable. Loose glass splinters and the metal mesh exposed through damage present high risk of injury. This means conventional wired glass no longer fulfils today’s demands for traffic safety and is therefore not a recognised form of safety glass.

Stylish and Safe

The new MeshArt product from Essen’s glasid AG fulfils these requirements without any problem. The metal mesh in this product innovation is embedded in polyvinyl-butyral films laminated between two sheets of glass. According to its manufacturers MeshArt has been tested as a safety glass and offers the properties required here. This multilayer safety glass is produced using highly specialised processes. Under high pressure and temperatures of over 200° C the sheets of glass are united with the PVB films and the precious metal mesh. Once lamination is complete the imbedded wire mesh provides additional breakage inhibitance.

Versatile

MeshArt is offered with a gold, silver and bronze-coloured wire mesh. The standard range features a choice of five different weave textures – from coarse to very fine woven. This opens up interesting design opportunities – both in façade glazing and in interior and furniture design. The different weave structures allow different levels of transparency. This means multilayer safety glass can be used to darken rooms, produce privacy walls or simply to create visually appealing glass accents.

By embedding them in PVB films the wired meshes still woven traditionally on looms remain visually unchanged even years later. The glass can be cut and bent into any shape required. Angular, round or oval elements are just as feasible as various radii or waves and spherical or conical shapes.


The possible dimensions MeshArt can be supplied in are as varied as its application options and shapes. These dimensions range from a minimum of 50 mm x 50 mm to a maximum of 1,490 mm x 4,500 mm.