Sapphire Balconies

Two and a half years in the making. Decades of carbon savings. To develop our CarbonSmart balcony, Sapphire worked closely with Swedish steel manufacturers SSAB. Behind the scenes, we’ve been hard at work ensuring CarbonSmart lives up to our high quality standards. We’ve pushed SSAB's GreenCoat® Zero™ steel to the limits through fatigue testing, uniform line-load testing, Ruv5 UV resistance testing and point-load testing. We even subjected the materials to 1,000 hours of salt-spray testing to confirm their performance in marine and coastal environments. Even in these accelerated weathering conditions, SSAB's GreenCoat® Zero™ steel showed no visible signs of rust or corrosion. After two and a half years, we’re finally satisfied that our CarbonSmart balcony is ready for use in real-world construction projects. CarbonSmart is as durable, rigid and secure as any other Sapphire balcony. Click the link in the comments to learn more about what makes the materials in CarbonSmart special, including how we tested them to guarantee long-term performance.

We kept hearing the same thing in meetings. Architects and developers told us their aspiration was to add curves to their buildings. They wanted to soften their façades. They wanted to move away from designing 'blocky' buildings. They wanted their buildings to be flowing, elegant and stylish. One of the ways they wanted to achieve that? By installing curved balconies. But when it came to designing these balconies, they always encountered the same problem: repeatability. Because curved balconies required bespoke engineering solutions, they were hard to manufacture at scale. That meant longer lead times, challenges at the connection detail, a lack of certainty, and – worst of all – huge costs. With the Crescent™ Corner system, we've achieved a way to create beautiful curved balconies at scale. That means we can deliver curved balconies on time, at a comparable price to our standard balconies. With Crescent™ Corner, we've made curved balconies financially viable for the first time. We visited the Bermondsey Project to watch our new Crescent™ Corner balconies being installed and spoke to our UK Sales Lead Gareth Wheeler to hear how this system is already helping architects and developers achieve their aspirations. Want to read the full story? Check out our latest blog post. The link is in the comments.

You don't need a balcony that works with any precast. You need a balcony that works with 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 precast. Because every scheme is different, it's important to find a solution that matches your design, and your design alone. At Sapphire, we've engineered our connection solutions to accommodate both grey and white precast, covering a wide range of precast types: • Our Passive House-certified M30/G30 anchor works as a cast-in anchor with RC slab solutions, or with a top-fix plate for use with CLT and hollow core slabs • Our Clip-On™ system for white (architectural) precast allows clips to be installed and torqued at the factory, with no need to compensate for waterproofing or thermal bridging Over the years, we've proven the success of our systems with omni slabs, hollow core, sandwich panels and more. And we're confident they'll work with your design, too. Here's Paul Thompson to explain how our systems work with a huge variety of precast formats.

Is residential construction in Ireland still financially viable? While overall construction returned to growth in May, residential activity saw its sharpest decline since October 2025. It’s not a demand issue – in fact, demand remains strong, supported in part by the government’s VAT reduction on apartment sales. So, what has changed? Quite simply: the numbers aren't stacking up. • Fuel price volatility, driven by conflict in the Middle East, is pushing up build costs • European Central Bank rate rises are making development finance more expensive • Cost pressures across funding sources – from pension funds to insurance – are tightening margins • Ongoing constraints like labour shortages, strict regulations and import reliance continue to add friction Then there’s materials. Costs remain high, and in a market like Ireland, exposure to imports only compounds the issue. When you add it all up, viability becomes a penny-by-penny exercise. Every line item is under scrutiny. Every decision has to justify itself. At Sapphire, we’ve focused on reducing that uncertainty. We’ve hedged the cost of our aluminium, helping to stabilise one of the biggest variables. And by manufacturing on the island, we reduce exposure to tariffs and cross-border cost volatility. Ultimately, viability isn’t solved by one product or supplier decision alone. It comes from rationalisation. From designing smarter, standardising where it matters, and removing unnecessary complexity before it ever reaches site. Here's Leonardo Ponce of O'Mahony Pike Architects to tell us more about the importance of rationalisation.

Precast. It’s the more efficient, cost-effective way to deliver high-rise residential homes. But for years, developers have struggled to connect balconies to precast buildings. For many, this meant getting rid of balconies altogether. This goes to show why it’s so important to work with a balcony supplier who not only brings decades of experience, but a tailor-made system designed to work with precast. At Sapphire, that’s exactly what we offer: a complete system that ensures a rigid connection between your precast façade and our lightweight aluminium balconies. We’ve already delivered countless balconies to precast projects across the UK, Ireland and beyond. We’ve worked with all the major forms of precast, and we’ve built relationships with top precasters. As our Technical Sales Lead Paul Thompson puts it: we’re a safe pair of hands to choose for any precast project. So, if you’re thinking of choosing precast for your next development, there’s no need to compromise on balconies – speak to Sapphire, and we’ll be there to help you through the process. Want to learn more about our system? Read our latest blog post here: https://lnkd.in/gjQDwzjV

What do you need to get right with balcony anchors when working with precast? A rigid connection. End-to-end accountability. Perfect detailing at the interface. Working with precast can accelerate your project, but only when the components you're using fit together flawlessly. That's why, at Sapphire, we've moved away from off-the-shelf anchor systems and focused on developing our own end-to-end connection strategy. • Our anchors are custom-made for our systems in Ireland. We have full ownership over our materials. • We track everything. Our Passport app shows you the provenance and the destination of every component. • We offer total transparency. Documentation from our Passport app can be uploaded into Zutec or Procore – great for BCAR. When you choose Sapphire, you're not just choosing balconies. You're choosing a robust connection system designed to work with precast. Let's hand over to Paul Thompson to explain.