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Learn more →What it is
Switchable privacy glass is a laminated panel with a liquid crystal film in the interlayer. Unpowered, the film scatters light and the panel is translucent and private. Powered, the crystals align and the glass turns clear. The switch is instant and it can be wired to a wall switch, a sensor, a door lock or a building management system.
Because the film sits inside a lamination, the finished panel is a laminated safety glass unit, which means it is acceptable in positions where AS 1288 requires grade A safety glass — including doors and partitions.
Where it earns its keep
- Consulting and treatment rooms. Clear between patients, private during. No blind to clean, which matters in a clinical setting.
- Meeting rooms in open-plan offices. The room reads as part of the floor until a confidential conversation starts.
- Bathrooms and ensuites, especially in hotels and apartments where the bathroom borrows light from the bedroom.
- Retail and display. A shopfront panel or a cabinet that switches opaque to reveal a product, or to close off a window at night.
- Projection. In the opaque state the panel works as a rear-projection surface, which is a genuine dual use rather than a gimmick.
- Skylights and high windows where no blind could ever be reached.
The practical requirements
Smart glass needs a low-voltage power supply and a driver, and the cabling has to arrive at the panel edge. That is straightforward in a new fitout and a nuisance in an existing wall, where it means chasing or a surface conduit. The driver sits in a ceiling space or a cabinet and needs to be accessible.
Panels are made to size like any other laminated glass and cannot be cut afterwards. Curved and shaped panels are possible. The film is a laminated component, so like any laminated glass it should not be left with exposed edges in a permanently wet position without proper detailing.
Being straight about the cost
It is expensive glass. On most windows a blind or a film does the job for far less, and recommending switchable glass for a domestic living room window is usually recommending the wrong product. It is worth it where a blind physically cannot be fitted or cleaned, where hygiene rules out fabric, or where the instant switching is part of how the space is used.
For ordinary privacy at ordinary prices, obscure patterned glass in a window or an applied film is the sensible option, and for office partitions generally, see the commercial page.
More services
Explore our other services
Window Repair and Replacement
Reglazing timber and aluminium windows, plus custom awning, double-hung, sliding and louvre units.
Learn more →Shopfront Glass
Laminated shopfront panels, entry doors and after-hours board-ups so the shop still opens in the morning.
Learn more →Shower Screens
Framed, semi-frameless and frameless screens in toughened safety glass, made to the opening you actually have.
Learn more →Glass Splashbacks
Toughened 6mm splashbacks for kitchens, laundries and bathrooms, colour-matched and templated on site.
Learn more →Double Glazing
Insulated glass units for Melbourne's cold snaps and hot northerlies. Retrofit or full window replacement.
Learn more →Mirrors
Cut-to-size bathroom, wardrobe, gym and studio mirrors with polished or bevelled edges.
Learn more →Glass Balustrades
Frameless and semi-framed balustrades for stairs, balconies and decks, built to the fall height rules.
Learn more →Glass Roofs and Skylights
Overhead glazing, awnings and skylights in laminated glass, because overhead glass has its own rules.
Learn more →Pool Fencing
Frameless and semi-frameless glass pool fences built to the Victorian barrier rules.
Learn more →Glass Doors
Hinged, sliding, stacker and bi-fold glazed doors, plus reglazing the door you already have.
Learn more →Fly Screens
Pleated, sliding and fixed insect screens in extruded aluminium with PVC-coated mesh.
Learn more →Table Tops and Furniture Glass
Cut-to-size table tops, shelving and cabinet glass with polished, bevelled or pencil edges.
Learn more →Scratch and Graffiti Removal
Polishing scratched and acid-tagged glass instead of replacing it, where the glass can take it.
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FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How does switchable glass work?
A liquid crystal film is laminated between two sheets of glass. With no power the crystals sit randomly and scatter light, so the glass looks frosted. Apply low voltage and they line up, letting light pass and the glass go clear. It switches in well under a second and it is a laminated safety glass panel in its own right.
Is it private when it is switched off, or just blurry?
It blocks vision, not light. In the opaque state you cannot make out a person or a document through the panel, which is why it works for consulting rooms and bathrooms. What it does not block is silhouette against a bright backlight or sound, so it is a visual privacy product, not an acoustic or blackout one.
What happens in a power failure?
The glass defaults to its opaque state, because that is the unpowered condition. For a bathroom or a consulting room that fails safe. For an internal partition where you want the space to read as open, it means a blackout leaves every panel frosted until power returns, which is worth thinking through at design stage.
Where does it not make sense?
Anywhere a blind would do the same job for a fraction of the price, which is most domestic windows. It needs a hard-wired low-voltage supply and a driver, so retrofitting into an existing wall means chasing in cabling. It earns its cost where a blind cannot go, where hygiene rules out fabric, or where the switching itself is the point.
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