Wow, what a good-looking bathroom! Many of Bil's clients are also going for this half-wall look for both showers and tub/shower enclosures. It looks so inviting and then you can see the beautiful tilework without the glass in the way. Note that glass comes in different grades, the lowest has a greenish hue. For that special bathroom, you'd want to get the clearest glass you can. There have been no compliants - and you've got half the glass to clean.
:) Rhoda http://www.billfryconstruction.com/

I would like to suggest that you simply test your own shower head. I have this kind of open shower and find that my shower head doesn't spray water further than about 3' out in normal showering position....and at the furthest point it reaches it is, by force of gravity, headed down, not out as you might think. Test it- that's all I'm suggesting.

What are the dimensions of the shower area and how wide is the glass?