The Canopy project was for the reconstruction of a panel which had been mounted in a wooden frame and which acted as a shelter outside a backdoor, where the client enjoyed an evening puff on a cigarette.
They had had some building work done and the builders had accidentally demolished their beautiful leaded canopy. So my job was to rebuild it.
The design was already decided, therefore, and it remained just to draw up the template and to salvage as much of the original glass as possible.
| This is what I was presented with:
It looks very dramatic. Of course, the state of the original piece is irrelevant. I kept as much of the glass as possible, but the main purpose in having the remains of the window was simply to help with the design of the new one. It’s an important point. It amuses me that you can go along to a reclamation yard and pay hundreds of pounds for an old and creaky leaded window. What would you do with it? Reuse the design, perhaps, and reuse what’s left of the glass? Total nonsense. If you come across an old leaded window, and you like the look of it, take a photograph of it. That’s all you need to do. In this case, all four blue squares were intact and I managed to extract several long pieces of bubbled glass, which I could reuse in the new window. I then bought the remaining plain and bubbled glass to match for a few pounds. |
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| The template consisted of all straight lines. Not a curve anywhere. That made the whole process so much easier. The template was symmetrical on both axes and could be drawn up very accurately and the glass was quick and easy to cut to the exact shape required.
Likewise, when it came to constructing the window, it all slotted into place very easily; the lead fitted together well with very little wastage. |
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| The finished product:
Quick and relatively easy to do, because of the straight lines, and looks fantastic. |
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| Update:
Quite some time later the client had a lobby door remodelled and used the panel to make that much more interesting. |
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