Back in October 2019, Lightworks were approached by a client about the production of a set of new stained glass panels for the entrance of their private residence in the Lake District. With the property undergoing extensive renovation, every aspect of which was subject to its owners exacting standards, the stained glass element was no exception to this.

Our client provided us with a fully formed design concept for the project, taking clear inspiration from the work of Bridget Riley’s “Op Art” of the late 80’s & early 90’s and also of the stained glass at The Ivy restaurant. Having made some initial minor tweaks to its overall intricacy (for both practical and budgetary reasons) we provided a number of sample panels using a variety of glass types for comparison & selection. With a background of Lamberts “Reamy Danziger” chosen without too much trouble, sourcing of suitable high quality mouth-blown streaky glass (a specific requirement of our client) for the colour elements of the design proved to be a little more of a challenge.

There is now only one producer of hand-made mouth-blown sheet glass within the UK – The English Antique Glass Co in Alvechurch, just south of Birmingham. After requesting a set of samples of their beautiful streaky cylinder glass, we took a trip down the M6 to hand select some sheets. It was great to meet Dave and his team and a real privilege to be able to watch the glass being blown. For further reading on this visit along with some images, take a look at one of our previous posts: http://www.lightworksstainedglass.co.uk/lightworks-visit-the-english-antique-glass-company/

With production of the 8 panels completed in February 2020, and the hand-built bespoke oak entrance-way finished and installed in early March, we completed installation of the glass on the 15^th March.

We are currently working on a second set of panels for a large arch-topped door for the same property. This has again been designed by the client and will serve to visually tie the new 8 panel scheme to a set of leaded glass original to the building.