The Guardian, one of the UK's most-read newspapers, has interviewed Sapphire as part of an article about how the world is entering the "Golden Era of Balconies".
The article focuses on how "Balconies had become a symbol of urban living in extremis – a joyful escape pod for millions. There were viral videos of Italians serenading each other from their balconies, a Dublin housing estate playing balcony bingo, and entire tower blocks erupting in balcony-borne applause for doctors and nurses."
The Guardian interview with Nick Haughton, Head of Marketing for UK & Global focused on how the construction industry is reacting to the increased importance of balconies following the stringent lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The article pictures the trend talked about in the interview as “We’re definitely seeing an increasing proportion of balconies to apartment numbers, says Nick Haughton at Sapphire Balconies. Sapphire, Britain’s largest balcony manufacturer".
One of the other trends asked about during the interview was whether habits are changing in the PRS sector of the industry. Nick commented that we are seeing the previous trend of omitting balconies and allocating a theoretical area behind a french door becoming less common.
The journalist was also interested to find out Nick's thoughts on whether there is much social interaction between balcony users and whether this has changed much. Nick indicated that in the wake of the laminate glass ban in the UK on balcony guarding's we are seeing more solid systems designed however a number of architects at early stages are talking about how they are planning for fewer privacy requirements between one balcony and another as people have grown to love the interaction their balconies have given with their neighbours during the lockdown.
When asked about whether other key organisations had commented on changes with balconies Nick mentioned that Alison Brook Architects have recently published an article about how the 'Lockdown' has emphasised the Importance of balconies on residential buildings and this follows one of Britains largest Housing Association's stating that they now deem balconies as an essential part of developments rather than a nice-to-have extra.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/sep/17/room-to-breathe-how-we-entered-the-golden-age-of-the-balcony
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