Tag: Offsite Production

5 Reasons Modular Balconies Make Sense in Canada

Posted on by Nimrita Bassi

As Canadian construction evolves, the demand for smarter, more efficient building solutions continues to grow. Off-site construction has moved from being a trend to becoming a strategic choice, and prefabricated modular balconies are playing a key role in that transformation.  

At Sapphire Balconies, we design balcony systems that increase the perceived value of developments, whilst streamlining balcony installation and maintenance processes. Our balconies are built for long-term performance and engineered to deliver consistent value throughout the project life cycle.  

Here is why prefabricated modular balconies are suitable for Canadian projects and why developers, architects, and contractors should consider them:  

  1. Designed to Integrate with Different Types of Building Frames

From mass timber projects in British Columbia to reinforced concrete high-rises in Ontario, prefabricated balconies can connect to various kinds of building frames.   

Sapphire’s prefab balconies are compatible with:  

  • reinforced concrete (RC) frames 
  • cross-laminated timber (CLT) frames
  • light gauge steel frames (LGSF) 
  • tunnel form systems (TFS) 
  • Peikko’s DELTABEAM systems.  

This structural versatility allows project teams to select the best framework for their needs without compromising on balcony design or adding unnecessary complexity to the build.   

  1. Value-Driven without Compromising on Quality

Prefabrication reduces installation time and labor costs, but its biggest advantage is long-term value. Factory-built balconies reduce site errors, improve build quality, and minimize ongoing maintenance. Faster install times also lead to tighter project timelines and improved predictability.   

For developers, this means better cost control, less waste, and a desirable, high-performance feature that enhances marketability and long-term returns.   

  1. Lightweight and Built for Modern Construction

With Canada’s growing focus on sustainability and mass timber construction, weight and thermal efficiency are more important than ever. Our balconies are significantly lighter than traditional concrete options. This reduces the load on the structure, enables easier logistics, and allows for greater design flexibility.   

Each balcony unit is tested to meet Canadian building standards, with resistance to wind uplift, structural deflection, and thermal bridging designed into every system.  

  1. Delivered Faster with Off-Site Precision

Canadian projects often face unpredictable delays due to weather. Prefabricated balconies help avoid these setbacks by moving construction into controlled indoor environments.  

This dramatically reduces on-site trades, accelerates the schedule, and improves safety conditions.  

  1. Designed for Canadian Conditions and Compliance

From harsh winters to complex building regulations, Canadian construction requires resilient and adaptable solutions. Our balconies are built with Canadian codes and climates in mind.  

 They are:  

  • thermally efficient, with built-in thermal breaks 
  • capable of handling snow loads and wind exposure 
  • durable, low maintenance, and corrosion-resistant. 

Features like thermal breaks in prefab balconies improve energy efficiency by lowering heat transfer, supporting compliance with standards like the Toronto Green Standard. Sustainable balcony design can also contribute to lower TEDI ratings.    

Building Smarter for a Better Future   

Prefabricated modular balconies are not just a modern upgrade; they are a strategic investment in smarter construction. With improved speed, safety, cost control, and environmental performance, they align perfectly with the future of Canadian development.  

If you are planning a Canadian project, we would love to help you build it better.  

Why are Prefab Balconies the New Choice for High-Rise Developments?

Posted on by Nimrita Bassi

Traditionally, balcony construction has often been an afterthought in the building design, and concrete balconies don’t make the process any easier.

With the more efficient and sustainable modern methods of construction, off-site manufacturing and prefabricated balconies are transforming projects.

Here are 7 reasons why prefabricated balconies are the new choice for high-rise residential buildings:

  1. Increased Perceived Value: Prefab balconies are manufactured off-site, focusing on functionality, sustainability, and aesthetics. Improved visual appeal contributes to a building’s market value as high-quality finishes, sustainable materials, and functional designs appeal to buyers. Additionally, because prefab balconies are produced efficiently, developers benefit from cost savings through reduced waste and faster installation.
  2. Enhanced Thermal Efficiency: Step codes are driving the push for increased thermal performance in new Canadian constructions. Heat can easily escape through balcony structures without proper thermal breaks, undermining the building’s energy efficiency. Prefab balconies allow manufacturers to place thermal breaks in tactical locations within the balcony system to reduce heat loss in the building, leading to improved thermal performance.                                                          
  3. Higher Project Efficiency: Prefinishing balconies off site reduces the need for on-site trades as there is no manufacturing of balconies in situ. Delivering fully assembled units also means faster balcony installation.
  4. Unmatched Quality Assurance: Balconies that are produced in controlled factory conditions undergo several quality checks, ensuring that each balcony has a trackable history. For example, at Sapphire we use the Passport App to record and track each balcony’s progress through the different production and quality check stages.
  1. Ideal for Passive House Developments: Thermally broken balconies increase energy efficiency and reduce heat loss, aligning with passive house principles. Prefabricated aluminium balconies also lower structural load as they are lightweight and complement sustainable building frames like cross-laminated timber frames.

Learn in our case study how we streamlined the balcony project at Vienna House, a passive house residential development in Vancouver, Canada.

  1. Higher Design Flexibility: Off-site manufacturing allows for more opportunities to create a functional balcony design that offers comfort to residents and simplifies installation and on-site handling of balconies by installers. Prefinished balconies can be thoughtfully assembled in the factory while keeping the risk of error as low as possible.
  2. Compliance with Standards: Features like thermal breaks in prefab balconies improve energy efficiency by lowering heat transfer, supporting compliance with standards like the Toronto Green Standard. Sustainable balcony design can also contribute to lower TEDI ratings. 

Discover in our case studies how our prefabricated balconies have benefited projects across the UK and Canada.

 

 

 

 

How Can Off-Site Production Transform Your Balcony Project?

Posted on by Nimrita Bassi

Sapphire has embraced and applied modern methods of construction to all its projects, from using standardised designs to off-site production and storage. We aim to minimise on-site work by finishing our balconies in our factories, leading to various benefits for our clients.

What are the Key Benefits of Off-Site Balcony Production?

  1. Increased Quality Assurance: Producing balcony units in a factory setting ensures higher quality control. Our balconies go through strict quality checks and using our Passport app we ensure that a balcony passes on to the next production stage after it’s passed the previous one, ensuring a higher quality output and less repetition of work.
  2. Increased Perceived Value: Off-site balcony production increases the quality of output. Therefore, every balcony installed will be high quality, increasing the condo’s value.
  3. Fewer Project Delays: Health and safety issues related to hot work during the installation of traditional balconies are minimised, and so is the risk of errors.
  4. Faster Balcony Installation: We have been able to rapidly install over 60 Glide-On Cassette balconies in a day. As the balconies are prefinished in our manufacturing plant, installation becomes faster and requires fewer on-site trades.
  5. No Storage Requirement: Pre-finishing as much as possible in the factory minimises the need for secure storage on-site, which is especially beneficial for projects in city centres where space is limited.

Discover how our prefabricated balconies benefited a passive-house residential development Vienna House in Vancouver, Canada.

How Does Off-Site Production Contribute to a Project’s Sustainability Goals?

  1. Less Waste Generation: When balconies are manufactured and finished off-site, there is a lower chance of product defects and material waste.
  2. Innovative and Sustainable Design Possibilities: Off-site manufacturing gives innovators the chance to design and produce prefabricated balconies that are energy-efficient and sustainable. For example, our balconies are all thermally broken, leading to improved thermal efficiency in the building.
  3. Shorter Construction Period On Site: Off-site production leads to project efficiency by reducing balcony installation time and on-site trades, saving construction time and carbon emissions.

Discover how our off-site production techniques and prefabricated balconies have reduced carbon emissions, time, and costs in our case studies.

At Sapphire, we believe that well-designed balconies benefit property developers and buyers significantly. Our balconies are constructed with functionality, sustainability, and aesthetics in mind. Through off-site production, our team can execute innovative designs with accuracy, enhancing our balconies’ perceived value.

If you have a project in mind and wish to discuss it, start a conversation about prefabricated balconies in Canada with us: www.balconies.global/contact-us/

 

Balcony install achieves a rapid 34 in just 6 hours 13 Minutes.

Posted on by Sajjad B

New approach, new balcony install record.

With exceeding balcony install expectations in mind, Sapphire working with a Scottish balcony install partner, set a challenge to install more than Sapphire’s long-standing record of 22 balconies in one day. Having hit this goal with 23 installed at Pomona Wharf earlier in June, a further 34 balconies were installed in just 6 hours and 13 minutes of balcony installation time on 15th June 2017. That’s an amazing install average of just 10.9 minutes per balcony all day long. Testament to Sapphire’s unique and patented Glide-On™ Cassette® balcony systems, which enables install of fully assembled balconies in rapid times and with improved safety from the traditional bolt-on balcony approach.

Sapphire’s patented Cassette® balcony system is complementing the innovative design and build of a new high-rise development on Pomona Island, one of Greater Manchester’s ‘hidden gems’. The offsite-manufactured system’s fast-track install method, using Sapphire’s patent-protected Glide-On™ connectors, made it possible to install 23 balconies one day and a further 34 projecting balconies during another day, with just three installers and one crane (in two set up positions). Rowlinson Construction’s Project Manager comments:

“Although we hadn’t worked with Sapphire’s modular balcony system before the balcony install  went very well and we are all happy with the end product”.

The two adjacent buildings at the new Pomona Wharf development are part of the regeneration of the former dockland site. The 10 and 11 storey apartment blocks have been constructed as complete precast concrete solutions. Individual sections of each building’s shell and envelope were delivered to site ready to be craned into position floor by floor.

Offsite production fundamental

Working in tandem with the build programme, Sapphire manufactured over 100 balconies for the project in its offsite lean production facility. Once each building’s floor slabs were cast, complete with thermally broken balcony brackets and cantilever arms. Sapphire began scheduled deliveries of fully assembled balcony units to site. The individual balconies, including glass balustrades and sub-deck, were installed by simply lifting them into position and ‘gliding’ them on to the arms – this method of balcony install saves time and minimises crane hire and associated site costs. A simple solution, unique and patented by Sapphire.

Balconies for the project feature frameless structural glass balustrades from Sapphire’s Crystal range, combined with an slim aluminium capping and durable, slip-resistant WPC composite decking. Unsurprisingly, glass balustrades are a popular choice for residential balcony projects like Pomona Wharf. As well as its enduring aesthetic appeal, glass offers a robust, low maintenance solution. In addition, Sapphire’s unique and simplistic base detailing design enables integration with the Cassette® structure avoiding the need of base channels which are often one of the most costly parts of a frameless structural glass balustrade, making Cassette® balconies a cost-effective choice for developers.

Increasing offsite

Offsite construction methods, as used at Pomona Wharf, are increasingly seen as the answer to many of the issues facing the construction industry; from increasing margins for contractors to addressing the housing crisis by reducing build times and labour requirements. Sapphire’s Marketing Manager, Nick Haughton, says Sapphire very much supports this approach. He comments:

“To install 57 balconies in just two days, especially with only a three man balcony install team and a single crane is simply beyond the conceivable possibilities of traditional bolt-on balconies. The achievement of installing 34 balconies in a single day sets a new industry record and is clear testament to our patented balcony innovation”.

Rapid balcony install is not about rushing and mustn’t compromise safety. It’s primarily down to innovative design of balconies, and about working lean and ensuring intelligent sequencing to minimise delays. Sapphire’s supply and support approach meant balconies were ready and right, enabling installers to complete balconies rapidly with installers safely inside the apartments, and without need to install soffits afterwards.

Download Full Case Study