INSIGHTS · HEALTHCARE
Switchable glass for healthcare: instant privacy and hygienic surfaces
In healthcare settings, patient privacy and surface hygiene have to be ensured together — and blinds on doors and glazing solve the first at the expense of the second. Switchable glass reconciles them: it stays clear when the space should be open and observable, turns opaque on command when a patient needs privacy, and offers a smooth, washable surface in place of fabric. It is a solution that designers and architecture practices can write into the specification from the earliest stages.
Patient privacy when it’s needed
An exam room, a consultation space or an inpatient area needs privacy the moment it is required, without shutting the space off permanently. When needed, the glazing or glass door turns opaque and takes the patient out of view; once the visit is over it clears again, and the space stays open and observable. In its opaque state the glass diffuses the light: the room stays bright, while from outside what happens inside cannot be made out.
A smooth surface in place of blinds
Blinds and fabric trap dust and contaminants and need frequent laundering: in healthcare settings they are often the weak link in hygiene. Switchable glass performs the same screening role with a continuous, smooth, washable surface that sanitizes like ordinary glass. Fewer places for dirt to gather, and a visual barrier activated remotely through the system, without contact.
Which technology for the practice
For a space that should be private by default, PDLC is the natural choice: opaque at rest, it clears only when it receives the electric input, so privacy is assured even without power. Where the space should instead stay clear most of the time — turning opaque only at specific moments — PNLC’s reverse logic is the better fit.
A choice that starts at the design stage
In healthcare buildings the technology of glazed partitions is defined upstream, by architects and designers, often within design competitions and tenders. Bringing switchable privacy in at this stage resolves privacy, hygiene and natural light in a single element, with no reliance on blinds or panels added later. We work alongside design practices and contractors in choosing the technology and defining the specification, from tender documents to supply.
From one room to the whole facility
A single glass door is handled with a switch. A clinic with several exam rooms and spaces is a system in its own right: it matters to manage surfaces by area and to set scenes that match the flow of appointments. With B-LOGIC several spaces are coordinated from a single point, in groups or individually. A single pane already works on its own: orchestration is the added step once the rooms to manage grow numerous.
Let’s talk about your project
Designing or delivering a practice, a clinic or a ward? We work alongside you from choosing the technology to supply, with the technical support to build it into glass doors and partitions.