April 30, 2024

Fluted Glass in Small-space Design

Some call it fluted glass, others call it reeded glass, the rippled, translucent material offers a simple yet elegant solution for balancing openness and concealment.

Some call it fluted glass, others call it reeded glass; secretly, we wish it was called groovy glass. Whatever your name for it, this rippled, translucent material provides a simple yet elegant solution for balancing openness and concealment.

Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography:

Art Deco

Design Ideas

Open Plan

Room Divider

Zoning

Before

After

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Lora Zampara and Michalis Saplaouras of Cluster Architects faced a challenge when designing this **downtown Athens apartment**: in addition to the glass patio doors, it only had one window. That is, until they added several more to the interior.

Zampara and Saplaouras realised that they could transmit natural light throughout the space *and* have a private bedroom by enclosing it within fluted glass.

The glass itself runs above the counter of the curved kitchen – the central hub of the apartment – and connects to a set of double doors that open onto the bedroom.

"The main design idea was to create an open plan space that offers adequately divided, but not closed, rooms. Through the use of translucent frames and mirrors, we were able to bring in as much natural light as possible".

— Lora Zampara and Michalis Saplaouras, Cluster Architects

Within the bedroom itself, the architects added a built-in wardrobe made from wood and Japanese paper and placed it in front of the fluted glass to add even more privacy without hindering the flow of light. *Images Nikos Vavdinoudis and Christos Dimitriou.*

The sweet life! The **palazzo-inspired Dolce Vita apartment** – featuring arched and curved motifs, marble, and rich wood throughout – was imagined as a mix between a hotel suite and gelato bar.

With only 29sqm/312sqft to work with, Ophélie Doria & Edouard Roullé-Mafféïs of Space Factory saw fluted glass as a way of creating zones and maximising light circulation while complementing the space’s refined, hotel-like aesthetic.

Many attribute the origins of fluted glass to the ancient Egyptians, but its modern application really came about during the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and ’30s. A hundred years later, the popularity of reeded glass is once again on the rise, popping up in small-space interior design as a tool for balancing openness and concealment.

Two sets of three arches windows appear on either side of the bedroom, which is stationed between the kitchen and bathroom. This keeps the bedroom from feeling too cramped and allows light to pass all the way through.

This system also prioritises where light is needed most: the kitchen, followed by the bedroom, and finally the bathroom. *Images* *Herve Goluza.*

Jack Mama and Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama took this **lower-level terraced apartment** in London from a maze of walls to an open-concept innovation.

In lieu of traditional bedrooms, the redesigned 54sqm/581sqft space includes two sleeping pods.

"One thing I was quite conscious about was having two sleeping pods up against each other, so they are separated by a big sliding door that gives that sense that you have a space that can be divided up".

— Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama

Mindful of the need for additional privacy at times, Studiomama added a sliding pocket between the two pods with a round, fluted glass window in the middle so that both sides still benefited from the light of either window.

Brazilian architect Franco Luiz Faust of Solo Arquitetos used a classic Art Deco–style application of reeded glass in the kitchen of his **55sqm/592sqft Curitiba home** placing it on the cupboard doors of the unit separating the kitchen from the living room.

Even though it doesn’t provide a view into the living room, the fluted glass still makes the space feel less enclosed – in part because it reflects the light from the window back into the space. *Images Eduardo Macarios.*

Using fluted glass doesn’t have to be complicated or elaborate; it can be as simple as replacing a standard door with a glass one. Alex Antoniadis did just this within his **retrofitted heritage apartment** in Melbourne, which features two fluted doors – one leading into the bedroom and one leading into the bathroom.

The rippled, translucent material provides a simple yet elegant solution to the quandary of not wanting to see something but also not *not* wanting to see it.

The fluted glass door is perfect for bathrooms as it allows for both privacy *and* light transfer. Antoniadis created continuity by using the same material for the shower wall.

"The bathroom is the only space in the apartment with its own door, which is the original door – it is almost 100 years old. And I stripped back the paint off that window to reveal this beautiful fluted glass".

— Eleanor Peres

The door, which is the original and nearly 100 years old, adds some heritage flair and lets more light in.

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Writing:

Kate Kolberg

Photography:

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