Hard Glass: “Glass is approaching its technological limit”
According to sales manager Michela Borile and executive manager Teresa Furlan, increasingly larger surfaces, reduced thicknesses and new solutions are pushing glass towards its design and production limits.
For over 50 years, Hard Glass has been developing and manufacturing highly complex glass solutions for yachts and superyachts, from large flat surfaces to curved glass with structural functions. As glass plays an increasingly central role in yacht design, the technical complexity of the processes and the demands of shipyards and designers are also growing. This is also the backdrop for industrial developments such as the launch of the Ocean Glass brand and the company's production expansion. SUPER YACHT 24 spoke with sales manager Michela Borile and executive manager Teresa Furlan.
Let's start with the news of the birth of the Ocean Glass brand thanks to the collaboration between you and the German company Yacht Glass.
"The collaboration with Yacht Glass stems from a shared industrial vision: to create a company capable of combining expertise, production capacity, and international presence to address the future challenges of the super and megayacht segment. Ocean Glass, the new company we established to market Hard Glass and Yacht Glass products, thus presents itself with its own distinct identity, embodying the best that both manufacturing companies offer in terms of technology, experience, and quality. The principle is simple: by joining forces, we can approach the market with greater strength and develop even more ambitious projects."
What's new in the company?
In recent years, Hard Glass has embarked on a significant growth journey involving both its production facility and internal organization. A development plan was launched in 2023 that calls for doubling the production area by 2028. The first phase of the project has already been completed and has led to a significant increase in production capacity. Specifically, new furnaces for bending and chemically strengthening glass have been installed, allowing us to process sheets up to 7 meters by 3,3 meters. We are also developing increasingly high-performance solutions from a structural, optical, and energy perspective, striving to anticipate the evolution of design in the industry.
Which innovations do you consider most relevant?
Glass has assumed an increasingly central role, and we are seeing a significant growth in glazed surfaces, to the detriment of fiberglass and aluminum. New technologies are emerging, such as smart glass, such as electrochromic or LCD, which can change state from opaque to transparent through electrical activation. There is growing attention to structural performance, optical quality, and safety. The increase in glass pane size requires increasingly advanced technologies in tempering, lamination, and bending processes. Another area of development concerns hull openings, which aim to make areas that were once equipped only with small portholes increasingly bright and livable. The design and supply of glazing in critical navigation positions, which become an integral part of the hull and are therefore subject to significant excitations and pressures, requires in-depth study.
Do you see any new technologies coming?
"In the superyacht sector, we're approaching the technological limit. The dimensions of the glass panes are becoming increasingly larger, but the physics remain the same and the pressures remain unchanged. Therefore, the work focuses primarily on reducing thickness while maintaining or increasing the glass's performance. There are materials other than traditional chemically tempered soda-lime glass that could offer superior performance, but they still present limitations in the production of large panes. It's possible to achieve very high performance even with very thin glass, sometimes superior to that of thicker glass, but their use must be carefully evaluated."
How are the demands of shipyards, designers, and owners evolving?
The trend is clear: maximizing visual continuity between interior and exterior. This translates into increasingly larger glass surfaces and the progressive elimination of visible structural elements such as mullions or frames. Among the most frequent requests are large-scale glazing with increasingly large clear openings, ultra-clear glass railings without mullions or with metal brackets, elimination of deadlights in hull areas, opening portholes integrated into the glass, and windows more closely integrated into the yacht's architecture. There is growing attention to thermal comfort, achieved with selective films capable of reducing infrared radiation, reducing the solar factor by 50% while maintaining almost unchanged light transmission.
How important is the refit and what type of interventions are required?
Refits are an increasingly interesting segment, and in many cases, they involve more than simply replacing existing glass, but actually redesigning the glazing. A significant example is a 43-meter Heesen, where the client chose to remove the original window frames—typical of installations in the early 2000s—to create a new installation system using external structural gluing. The project involved modifying the glass housings, surveying the external structure, and obtaining a new certification. A recent project on a Codecasa involved windows with limited openings, measuring approximately 80 x 100 cm. Thanks to a collaboration with a company specialized in cutting the existing mullions and reconstructing the structure, it was possible to install larger glazing, certifying the entire system.
Is there a project that best describes your way of working?
Every project represents a unique challenge, pushing boundaries. It's difficult to choose one that stands out. A significant case involved a survey conducted at a foreign shipyard, in a complex situation: the construction of a curved elevator that follows the yacht's spiral staircase for three floors. The result, seen at the last Monaco Yacht Show, was a masterpiece. These are the situations that bring the greatest satisfaction: the ability to immerse yourself in an unusual reality, reinvent your way of working, and accept the challenge, only to see the final result. This approach reflects how yachting companies, especially on one-off yachts, work in an extremely custom way: every project is different and requires a fresh perspective each time.
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