Glass Partition FAQs — Fire Ratings, Acoustics & Pricing
Fire ratings, acoustic performance, what's in the price, and where the workshop's capability starts and stops. If your question isn't here, send it with your brief and we'll answer it in the same-day response.
What does an EI30 or EI60 fire rating actually mean?
EI ratings describe how long a glazed element holds back fire in a real test. E is integrity — the glass and frame stay intact and stop flame and smoke passing through. I is insulation — the unexposed side stays below a temperature that would ignite anything nearby. The number is minutes: EI30 holds for 30 minutes, EI60 for 60. Our WH-78EI system is built for both classes, with a 4 mm silicone joint between panes instead of a visible frame, so the fire-rated wall reads as continuous glass rather than a series of framed panels. Read the full guide on fire-rated glass partitions →
What's a good acoustic rating for an office partition?
Sound reduction is measured in decibels (dB): the higher the number, the more noise is blocked between spaces. A standard internal partition might block 30-35 dB, enough to reduce a conversation to a murmur. For a meeting room or private office where confidentiality actually matters, you want closer to 45-50 dB, which stops speech from being intelligible next door. Our WH-80 OFFICE system reaches up to 50 dB, depending on the infill chosen, and is built specifically for offices and public buildings where sound insulation isn't optional. Read the full guide on acoustic glass partitions →
Does a UK glass office partition need CE marking?
CE marking confirms a construction product has been tested and declared against the relevant EU/UK standard for its intended use — for glazed partitions, that covers structural performance and, where applicable, fire and acoustic classification. It's not a legal requirement for every internal fit-out, but a specifier who asks for it is checking that what's fitted matches what's on the spec sheet. Every Weldholm system carries CE marking.
What's the difference between WH-45 and WH-45 OFFICE?
WH-45 is the broader profile family: partition walls, windows, manual and automatic sliding doors, swing doors, and vestibules, all from the same 45 mm-depth system. WH-45 OFFICE is the specific configuration built for fixed partition walls and all-glass hinged or swing doors, where the tempered glass pane is a structural part of the door itself rather than just glazing inside a frame. If you need a door that reads as solid glass rather than a framed panel, that's WH-45 OFFICE; if you need the wider range (windows, sliding doors, vestibules), that's WH-45.
How is Weldholm's £/m² price built — what's included?
Every published rate covers the aluminium-framed or fire/acoustic-rated glazing system itself, CE-marked — materials and fabrication only. Installation is quoted separately once we've seen your floor plan and site access, and confirmed in the same written quote. There are two bands because there are two build-ups: Signature for standard aluminium-framed glazed partitions, and Acoustic Premium for the acoustic-rated build-up behind up to 50 dB sound reduction. A floor plan that mixes systems, or a run with non-standard sizes, doors or finishes, gets a full written quote once we've seen the brief. The price we quote is the price you pay: no hidden extras added once the brief is agreed.
Does Weldholm only supply glazing systems, or also bespoke fit-out furniture?
Both, from the same workshop. Alongside the glazing systems on this site, we build the bespoke metal and wood fabrication that goes around them: hospitality furniture, architecture and design collaborations, and retail fit-out fittings, using the same metalworking, laser cutting, CNC milling, powder coating, and carpentry capability. One workshop, one relationship, rather than a separate supplier for the glazing and the fit-out around it.
What kind of custom metalwork does the fabrication workshop handle?
Metalworking, sheet metal and tube laser cutting, metal bending, CNC milling, and powder coating — the same capability set behind our glazing systems, applied to bespoke pieces. Carpentry and woodworking run alongside it for combined metal-and-wood work.
Can you build bespoke hospitality furniture for a bar, café, or restaurant fit-out?
Yes. Bar, café, and restaurant furniture built to the same brief as the space around it — aesthetic, functional, and practical in equal measure, from the same workshop that fabricates the glazing.
Do you fabricate from an architect's or designer's own drawings?
Yes. We build to an architect's or designer's specification directly, adapting materials and construction project by project rather than working from a fixed catalogue.
Can you handle full retail fit-out fittings, not just furniture?
Yes — full-cycle production from drawing to finished shop furniture, fittings, and interior elements, not just standalone pieces.
Can Weldholm combine a glazing system with matching custom metal fittings in the same project?
Yes, and that's the point of having both under one roof — one brief, one point of contact, for the glazed partitions and any custom metal or wood elements the same space needs, instead of coordinating two separate suppliers.
What materials can the fabrication workshop actually work with?
Metal and wood, separately or combined in the same piece — from structural aluminium framing to bar counters, retail fittings, and architect-specified furniture.