Aluminium Partitions

Aluminium partitioning is the framework most commercial interiors are divided with. The sections are slim, they carry glass without visible fixings, and — the part that matters to a facilities manager — the whole system comes apart and goes back together when the floorplate changes.

Urban Shopfronts installs aluminium partition systems across offices, clinics, showrooms and back-of-house areas. The same aluminium fabrication and glazing skills that go into a shopfront apply here; the difference is the tolerances are tighter and the work happens inside an occupied building.

Why aluminium rather than stud

A plasterboard stud wall is cheaper per linear metre and that is usually where the comparison stops. But stud is destructive to remove, it blocks daylight completely, and it is written off the moment the layout changes. Aluminium partitioning is a capital asset that moves with you. Tenants leaving a fitted floor frequently take the partitioning to the next building.

The systems we install are nominally demountable, meaning the head and base tracks, posts and glazing beads are mechanically fixed rather than bonded. A competent fitter can strike a run of glazed partitioning and reinstate it on a new grid line in a day.

Single glazed, double glazed and acoustic performance

Single-glazed partitions — one pane in a slim aluminium frame — suit meeting rooms, breakout areas and anywhere the privacy requirement is visual rather than acoustic. Expect around 28 to 32 dB Rw with a good perimeter seal, which is enough to take the edge off general office noise but not enough for a confidential conversation.

Double-glazed partitions carry two panes in a wider frame with an air gap and independent glazing lines. Properly detailed, with acoustic seals at head and base and a full-height cavity closer, these reach 45 to 48 dB Rw. That is the specification for HR rooms, consulting rooms, director's offices and anywhere a conversation must not carry.

The number on the system data sheet is a laboratory figure. What you get on site depends almost entirely on what happens above the ceiling and below the raised floor — an untreated plenum will leak sound straight over the top of a 48 dB partition. Where acoustic performance is a genuine requirement, we detail the partition to the structural slab, not to the ceiling grid.

Frames, finishes and integration

Standard frames are powder coated to any RAL colour; polyester powder coat to BS EN 12206 gives a durable finish that will not need redecorating. Anodised finishes are available where a metallic appearance is wanted. Slim-line systems reduce the visible frame to around 25 mm sightlines for a near-frameless appearance at lower cost than a true butt-jointed system.

Partitions rarely stand alone. We coordinate with the ceiling grid, raised floor, lighting layout, sprinkler heads, small power and data containment, and the fire strategy. Getting that coordination right before fabrication is the difference between a clean installation and a fortnight of remedial work.

Doorsets and accessibility

Partition doorsets are specified as part of the system rather than bought in separately. We install single and double leaf, hinged and sliding, timber and fully glazed. Where a door forms part of an accessible route, Approved Document M applies: a minimum 800 mm clear opening width, manifestation on glazed leaves, opening forces within the 30 N threshold, and ironmongery operable with a closed fist.

Fire-rated partitioning

Where a partition forms part of a compartment line, it must be fire rated and certified as a complete system — frame, glass, seals and doorset tested together. We supply and install EI30 and EI60 rated glazed partitioning with the corresponding test evidence. Fire-rated glass is not interchangeable with toughened glass, and a fire-rated frame with the wrong glass in it provides no protection at all.

Installation in occupied buildings

Most of this work happens around people who are still trying to do their jobs. We work evenings and weekends where the programme requires it, dust-screen the work area, use extraction on cutting, and protect floor finishes and lift lobbies on the route in. Materials are delivered to suit the building's loading bay restrictions rather than ours.