Atrium Replacement Windows
Atria (singular atrium) are some of the most impressive parts of a building. They are used mainly right after the entrance doors where the general public comes in. They give buildings a feeling of openness, space, and light that is both impressive and soothing at the same time. If the building belongs to a single company, it really gives a great impression to anyone that comes in, making him or her more favorable to the person or people he’s visiting. They can be a few stories high, or several stories high, but in general, the higher it is, the more impressive it becomes.
If an atrium is impressive in a building, imagine how much more impressive it can be in a house. It is something always surprising to visitors, even if the atrium is only 2 or 3 stories high, since visitors never expect to find one in the middle of a house.
Many years ago, when atriums started to become popular, they were open to the air and the elements, as putting a roof would block the light and defeat the purpose of atria completely. However, when technology allowed us to make glasses that were resistant to the weather, they began to have windows on top that would serve the same purpose as roofs, yet they would allow the light to come in and the effect to stay the same. It took a bit of time since early glass wasn’t able to resist heavy rain and hail.
While the first atrium windows didn’t break with bath weather, they weren’t as energy efficient as today’s atrium replacement windows. Atrium replacement windows were born when designers discovered that the energy that was used to keep the building cool in the summer and cold in the winter was not used efficiently due to the change in temperature in the atrium windows. It wasn’t until the development of insulation techniques in atrium replacement windows that this problem was solved.
Atrium replacement windows follow the same principles as other types of replacement windows. Nevertheless, they have a great difference that makes atrium replacement windows quite different. Atrium replacement windows have to be much more resistant. This is because if they break, the height from which the glass would fall can hurt or kill a person. Therefore, they have to resist both impacts from objects as well as movement in case of an earthquake. For this reason, most atrium replacement windows have a film of transparent plastic or other material that will keep the pieces of glass together and prevent them from falling even when atrium replacement windows break.