Some of our clients are very clear about what they would like and other just know they would like some stained glass!
The medium of lead and glass has as many constraints as it does opportunities - and the unique appearance of a traditionally made panel (not necessarily to a traditional design) comes from managing these constraints and opportunities creatively.
Some of the main points to consider are:
Design - we have a design styles page and a questionnaire to help clarify design ideas.
Stained glass in the home is much more common in the US and Germany than
in the UK - lets redress the balance! We will work with you to create what
you are looking for, we can make our own design proposals, and we can offer
a variety of sources for design ideas. Sometimes clients want to replicate
or approximate what may have been in place earlier in the life of their
home - sources for these designs can come from neighboring houses, architectural
sources, or generated from knowledge of the era and style of the building.
Other want some thing radically different. There can be the opportunity
to personalise the design, inserting elements of particular significance
to the owners.
The medium provides a huge range of colour, texture,
opacity and reflections depending on the glasses chosen. The opportunity to
alter the matrix in which the glass is held can vary the boundaries with
striking effects.
To generate a new design proposal we really need to visit the site, although
we can generate some early ideas, and a rough cost estimate from a discussion
and sight of photographs.
We need to understand what you are looking for - and develop and agree
a short design brief, which will take account of your ideas, the context
of the panel - in terms of the aesthetics and the practicalities of ensuring
the design can be securely made and mounted. From this we will prepare
a visual and select glass samples. Once this is agreed we will submit a
formal quotation, and request a deposit before proceeding further. We then
produce a full size drawing (the cartoon), for your approval, from which
the panel is built.
Its important to note the panel will look very different looking in, to
looking out, depending on the light source. Coloured glass in panels mounted
internally - that is not as windows to the outside - can look very different
(generally a lot darker) because of the lack of direct light, to the same
glass in a window in the sun.
Installation
Needs to be taken into account at the design stage. Leaded glass panels
are surprisingly heavy - and the frame - or whatever - into which they
will be installed has to be adequate. Larger designs are usually assembled
from a number of linked panels. We can install, or liaise with your glazier,
builder or contractor.
Strength and
Security
In a contest with a conventional piece of glass a leaded panel is likely to suffer less damage in an impact - it is more flexible - the lead will absorb impacts and the cement adheres strongly to glass and lead. By the same token the weight and flexibility of the panel mean that unless it is well supported it will sag and bow - even quite small panels have this tendency. To overcome this, and generally add strength, external and internal reinforcement may be used.
Its common, and probably good practice for security (although it can detract
from the appearance of the panel) to install behind a sheet of laminated (or maybe toughened) glass. Adding to existing glazing in this way may
minimise disruption and installation cost, although as mentioned above
the impact of the external appearance is lost somewhat.