Bristol Marriott Royal
Last week saw the completion of a large bespoke screen in the newly refurbished dinning area at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel. The screen is 6.5m long and 1.8m high, split over 5 panels. The image is of peach blossom, originated and designed in-house at Daedalian for the interiors team, Design Coalition. The panel is two layers of fabric laminated with a multilayer print, by Lime Signs, manufactured by hand at our studios in Lancashire and installed by Daedalian.
Super Cannes
Last week saw Daedalian’s first phase installation at a large and stunning private residence in the hills of Cannes in Southern France. There were a mixture of frameless bathroom doors and screens using laminated material in various colours with the house emblem etched on the doors and mirrors throughout the property. The final site survey was also taken for phase two works due to begin in late Feb, early March. The 2200 mile round trip certainly put the fitters through their paces and sadly the arctic weather followed them all the way down to the med with snow falling in Cannes during the visit – hopefully they’ll be packing their speedos next time!
Glass Door Handles Launching Soon
We’ve almost finished our new rangle of glass door handles, to be launched at the Surface Design Show 5-7 Feb 2013 – Business Design Centre Islington.
Shown here is a taster of one of our designs, fused glass with lead crystal rods. There are several others from crystal rods up to one metre in length, either plain or with interesting etched designs to cast glass blocks. All designed and made in England here at Daedalian Glass. there’ll be a few more tasters soon before the launch at the SDS, along with an updated web section and dedicated brochure.
Boardroom Table – Joseph’s Well, Leeds UK
Following on from a previous post, we have an update on our works at the offices of J. Pullan and Sons, in Leeds. Earlier this year we did extensive glass work, designing and manufacturing kiln formed glass doors, screens and a centrepiece kiln formed glass staircase. We were very pleased with the outcome at the time, as was Mr Pullan himself; so much so he asked us back to add a little further gloss, this time by manufacturing a glass boardroom table to match the rest of our work on the project.
The result was this striking 5.2m long, 3 part glass table incorporating the same kiln formed glass texture seen in the rest of the building. There was additional glass painting, to tie in with the colour scheme of the room the table inhabits as well as to conceal the steel frame and lighting around the edge.
This is another excellent example of just what can be achieved, when you develop the design relationship between maker/designer and user: A unique piece of design that perfectly fits the space and the needs of it’s users.
We do glass design products too!
Hello there,
After taking something of an in depth look into one of our most bespoke works to date, it is worth reflecting on all the other glass products we make. Sure we make highly original pieces of art for the most discerning of customers, but we also provide a wide range of more versatile standard glass designs and products too. For example, the images shown here are just the most recent installed examples of our ranges of laminated glass products and fittings. We offer transparent, translucent and mirrored glass designs, laminated with fabrics, printed polyester films, and an array of other organic and in-organic materials. Also featured are our lead crystal glass door handles, available in a range of lengths and diameters. Each and every one is ideal in many different interior design and architectural situations, be it decorative glass shower screens, glass doors, wall partitioning or wall paneling; not to mention some of the more esoteric uses we have found for products such as these. Please take a look at our products page to see more of our standard ranges.
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- Close up - minimal Italian made hinges
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- Focus on Daedalian made Lead Crystal door handles
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- Close up on Daedalian made Lead Crystal door handles
As always, if you have any questions about this or any other offering from Daedalian Glass Design, please get in touch.
+44 (0)1253 702531
tom@daedalian-glass.co.uk
Making History – Abingdon School Chapel.
Belatedly following on from our last missive, we take another look at Abingdon School Chapel.
From start to finish earlier this year, our work at Abingdon School Chapel took 9 years. Even in an industry of long lead times, that is very long time indeed. But sometimes you have to be patient. Sometimes you have to wait until every thing is ready and the proper conditions are met. Sometimes there is nothing to do but get on with your life and let nature take its course. It is when you let the world order itself around you and stop pushing the job down the pipeline, that great things happen. We said previously that some relationships can define you in unexpected ways and that our collaboration with Nicholas Mynheer, the designer of the chapel windows, is one of those relationships. If Nick and Davia, our creative head, had not met, there is every liklihood this project would not be as good as it is. That is not hyperbole, or big headedness, it is simply recognition of the artistic connection the they both share, which has given rise to a unique art-cum-glazing project.
When Nick was first contacted by Abingdon School to produce the Trinity Window, behind the Altar, he thought of Fused glass and of Daedalian, having worked with us previously. That section of the project was finished in 2004 and was, in itself a project we were proud to put in our CV. However shortly after completion, some money was bequeathed to the school by a former master, Hugh Randolf. It was decided to use the money to create two more, monochrome, windows in his memory. Having done three of the nine windows already, Nick floated the idea of glazing the entire chapel, interspersing the planned monochromatic panels with more full colour fused pieces. That way the light into the space could be maximised and the cost also kept affordable. In Nick’s vision all the chapel windows would be thematically tied, using the school and church calendar to inspire scholastic and Christian iconography. Having, by then, a long standing relationship with Davia, it made sense to bring Daedalian in again, to complete the project. Davia has developed the artistic sensitivity and glass working skill to transfer Nick’s painted designs successfully into windows which cause delight, solemnity and reflection in equal measure.
The windows are made exclusively from Bullseye fusing glass. It is the only raw fusing glass we use and is central to the success of the Mynheer windows. Each panel is a roughly 30mm thick single piece of glass. By using glass fusing, as opposed to the more traditional stained glass, we are able to eliminate the leads, essential in stained glass, while retaining and enhancing the intense colours and illuminated quality. The uniqueness of this work lies in the combination of traditional figurative, iconic design and modern glass working techniques. Each element is a new take on established forms. Nick Mynheer’s design is contemporary and modern, while depicting traditional scenes, while fused glass captures the best of stained glass, with clean lines and vibrant colours, while using relatively advances techniques to eliminate structural and visual weaknesses.
If you would like more information please contact us.
Abingdon School Chapel – Mynheer Windows
Every so often relationships come along that can define who you are and what you do with your life. This is true in our business, as much as in our personal lives. We have had the priviledge to strike such a relationship with Ecclesiastical artist Nicholas Mynheer. Daedalian has worked with him numberous times in the past, most recently mentioned here on our Blog about Islip Church. But our relationship, and particularly the artistic relationship between our Design Head Davia and Nick, goes back to the early 2000′s.
Abingdon School Chapel has been a project nine years in the making and was completed just over a week ago. This project was a unique opportunity in ecclesiastical architecture, as it is one of the few complete re-fits occuring in Britain’s ancient Christian places of worship and as such, it was not a chance Nick would pass by lightly. The earliest work we did on the project was finished in 2004 and constituted nine Altar windows. The remaining windows that we have just installed fullfil Nick’s vision for windows which not only beautify the space, but have a pastoral function, teaching the boys about how their lives at the school relate to their god.
With his unique style and dedication to the Christian faith Nick has put himself at the forefront of ecclesiastical design in Britain and we are delighted to take part in his vision.
We will be covering more of Abingdon School Chapel in a future blog installment, where we will talk more about Nick and Davia’s relationship, the function of the windows and the technical qualities behind the work, and most importantly be featuring more images of these beautiful windows!
The Pines – Sandblast Etched and Laminated Glass Design
Working on private homes can be a uniquely challenging experience. As a glass design firm we often find ourselves in somewhat longer negotiations over the exact composition of the products we supply. If the owner is personally involved in the project, then the quality standards that we routinely meet come into even sharper relief than usual. Of course that level scrutiny is not something we shy away from and is only right, when you consider the intensely personal and private relationships people have with their homes.
We have worked on a wide array of private properties all over the world and the heightened feeling of responsibility you get when interpreting such a personal vision never wavers. Your motivation can go far beyond the need to make the best glass designs, produce a beautiful piece of glass art, or maintain your reputation in a competitive industry. It can take you into a space where it becomes difficult to extract yourself from the feeling of “would I really be happy with this in my own home?” Even if you don’t personally like a design, the need to take it to what might be an unattainable level is ever present.
The following images show one of our most recent private home projects. Unusually, it was local to us and the client had a unique vision of what was needed. We are often proud of our ability to create something that helps invest a space with that intense personal and private beauty that is the hallmark of a great home. Here we can say, with confidence, that we did that.
Thomas Walmsley.
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- The stylised tree motif seen here was prevalent throughout the project.
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- Each panel in this series was hand decorated with glass beads and gold paint
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- Each panel was waterjet cut to ensure a perfect fit in the lamination.
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- The panels featured here are all curved and laminated.
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- All our laminated products are perfectly suited for moisture rich environments.
Kiln Formed Glass Design – J Pullan and Sons – Joseph’s Well
Today’s post focuses on a project we completed recently for Leeds based building contractor and property developer J. Pullan & Sons. We created this unique kiln formed glass design for the redevelopment of Joseph’s Well – a former clothing factory in Leeds – which features extensively throughout the building in office doors, as hand rails and most notably, as tread plates retrofitted into the original Victorian cast iron central stair well.
In order to make such a considerable structure sound our team of technicians had to do more than simply supply toughened safety glass. Each tread plate is in fact made from three separate panels of glass, laminated together. In this case, due to the heavily textured surface of the kiln formed design, we were unable to use our preferred EVA laminating method. This meant us using a process called “cold pour” lamination; whereby liquid resin is sandwiched between two or more glass panels. This process can be tricky, but it allowed us to bond the heavily textured surface of the kiln formed glass to the flat safety glass that supports it.
Going to these lengths meant that the stairs in Joseph’s Well are as safe as they are impressive; especially with LED lighting along the back edge of each tread casting a serous light through the stairs. In addition the same patterned glass was used for 3 metre high office doors and, as a first for us, lead crystal rod was used as hand railing.
Despite the production hurdles we managed to supply just what the client wanted, so much so that a subsequent boardroom table, in the same style, was ordered immediately afterwards.
If we say so ourselves, we were impressed by the finished scheme and we hope you are too.
If you have any questions regarding this, or any other project, please get in touch with us.
Warm regards,
The Daedalian Team.
Kiln formed glass design
One of our current projects is at a converted clothing factory in Leeds, manufacturing a new kiln formed glass design for glass stair treads, glass doors, glass boardroom table and glass reception desk.
This project is due to be completed soon, more blog entries and photographs to follow