The new Juliette balustrade designed for apartments without a balcony

The famous line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, is when Juliet stands at her bedroom balcony, looks out forlornly, and asks “Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

The type of balcony she was standing at, which only protrudes slightly from the joinery, has been dubbed the Juliet or Juliette balcony, and it’s a common sight in European countries.

It allows light and air into the house without creating a deck space, and gives apartments and townhouses a connection to the outdoors.

Provista Balustrade Systems’ latest innovation is called the Juliette balustrade and it came about when development company, Williams Corporation, was looking for an alternative to a fabricated metal solution they had previously used.

Having provided both aluminium baluster style and aluminium and glass Juliette options for some time, including some bespoke solutions for larger aged care developments, Provista created two new solutions that have a new four-point connection system, as opposed to the use of their Gutter Bracket that was used for many of the earlier solutions.

“Many of Williams Corporation developments have multiple balustrade solutions installed on the one project, so rather than have the differing looks of our aluminium solutions and the steel Juliette solutions they had been sourcing, we worked with their design team and came up with two products using our own existing aluminium extrusion profiles,” says Provista Balustrade Solution’s General Manager Noel Priestley.

One of the key constraints was being able to connect it to the building’s structure, because Williams Corp wanted a fixing solution that didn’t interrupt the look of the cladding.

“That posed a few issues which we overcame with a bespoke four-point connection system; there's fixed brackets bolted to the building sub-structure; the cladding has holes drilled where our mountings are positioned; and we come along later and bolt on our Juliette balustrade, which is quite a quick process because the brackets are already in place. An aluminium sleeve hides the brackets and because of the design of this system we can alter the distance of the balustrade from the building to suit the joinery and desired look.”

The Juliette balustrade can be custom powder-coated to match the building.

Vertical balusters are a popular option for the Juliette balustrade.

The main structure of the new Juliet balustrades is horizontal, as opposed to the traditional vertical post-based typically used. The solution was developed to meet construction constraints around joinery and framework, meaning a Gutter Bracket approach (with typically three brackets affixed below the joinery) was not possible.

The four-point system allows for two points of fixing below the joinery and two either side of the joinery at the required height of the balustrade.

Provista has since installed numerous Juliette balcony balustrade solutions for a number of developments, with further installations scheduled across the country in the coming months.

Williams Corporation National Design Head, Nathan Veevers says they’re very pleased with the solutions.

“The new Provista Juliette Balustrades have fulfilled a requirement for a specific mounting approach to some of our projects and provide a good-looking solution that is in keeping with the style of our developments.”

The Provista Juliette balustrades installed to-date for Williams Corporation have typically featured a darker powder coat finish, in keeping with the joinery and other structural elements and secondary colour schemes, “but we provide them in any colour required for a project” says Priestley.

The Juliette balustrade is adaptable to different building types, whether residential or commercial, and suits many styles of architecture from classical to contemporary. And as with all other Provista products, the new Juliette balustrades are engineered for use in Extra High Wind Zones as standard.

The design is compliant with all New Zealand regulations and is suited to A, B, E and C3 residential and commercial applications.

“Councils have been trying to elevate the level of aesthetic for new developments across New Zealand, and they are looking to avoid stark rows of walls and window joinery on every elevation of a building, particularly where it is visible from the street. What the Juliette balustrade does is break that up, and gives a building a much more interesting and appealing look.”

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