These quality made glass bricks are made in France with most of them achieving various fire ratings conforming to Australian Standards. Many unique patterns are available and suit most building applications with or without a fire rating requirement.*
La Rochère Fire Rated Glass Block Range
PLEASE NOTE: IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU FACTOR IN THE FRAME REQUIRED WHEN DESIGNING YOUR WINDOW SIZE, THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF INSTALLATION THAT REQUIRE FOUR DIFFERENT SIZES: SILICONE SYSTEM, MORTAR SYSTEM, MORTAR DIY SYSTEM, AND FIRE RATED SYSTEM. WE URGE YOU TO CONTACT US OR AT LEAST CONSULT THE GLASS BLOCK FRAMES PAGE FOR INFO.
60 Minute Fire Rating Range
The first rating (FRL 60/-/-) relates to ability to withstand load in a fire. As this is glass, it isn’t load bearing any time so this figure is irrelevant in relation to Fire Resistance Levels of glass blocks.
The middle rating (FRL -/60/-) relates to ability to contain smoke and flame for a certain period of time.
The last rating (FRL -/-/60) relates to ability to contain heat transfer for a certain period of time.
90 Minute Fire Rating Range
The middle rating (FRL -/90/-) relates to ability to contain smoke and flame for a certain period of time.
Multiple Layer Blocks achieving Fire Insulation Ratings
The last rating (FRL -/-/60) relates to ability to contain heat transfer for a certain period of time.
These glass bricks are purpose made to achieve the insulating function, whilst having a practical purpose, they do suffer slightly in appearance. There is a multiple layers of glass and silicone film to look through so they don’t have the lustrous crystal-like appearance of single layered glass bricks. They also are a lot more expensive than single layered glass blocks. Our recommendation is to use these only when necessary, for example, a shared hallway in an apartment building where people may have to pass by a burning apartment to safety. Not so much in a stairwell or boundary wall where there is open space on the other side of the wall.
*Fire Resistance Ratings
*Fire resistance rating. In Australia, we have a minimum fire resistance level (60 minutes) to meet fire codes in particular building applications (eg. boundary walls and fire escape stairwells) . Most glass bricks will resist fire for a good period of time.
The difference between some bricks and others may be very slight eg: 59 minutes is almost the same as 62 minutes but the former will not pass the minimum requirement and the latter will. The difference can be literally that small. There may also be no formal testing done of some brands in Australia.
Regarding The Patterns
The outside face of the glass blocks is smooth, the pattern is always on the inside of the block making it very easy to clean.
Cross-ribbed Glass Blocks
The lines run horizontally on one side of the glass block and vertically on the other giving a cross-line look.
Special Order Blocks
Some of these glass blocks are not stock items, we have three ranges of bricks and there are too many to hold stock of them all.
Special Order may mean a short wait from interstate or a long wait from overseas.