Building with glass a pleasure for architects

Architects require a strange mix of logic and creativity in order to be good at their jobs.

With that in mind, it is perhaps surprising to find so many using glass as the main material for the structural elements in their work.

Channel 4s website, which gives guidance on building major projects, says that people would be surprised to learn how useful building with glass can be.

"It might not seem like the best idea to have structural elements of your home made from glass, a material generally associated with, well, breaking and causing painful injuries!" it said.

"However, it is structural glass technology that built the British Museum, amongst other great architectural landmarks."

The museum was designed by Norman Foster and contains enough glass to build five hundred greenhouses.

"Architects love the chance to work with this material because it allows such license for creativity."

Structural glass, it says, is not just reserved for grand public buildings. It can also be used to great effect in the home.