Stained Glass or Coloured Glass has adorned the windows of churches since the Victorian Era. Besides being the material of choice for intricate window art in monuments and places of worship, Stained Glass is also commonly found in wooden framed Doors of tastefully done apartments and bungalows. In modern times, stained glass usage has progressed to interior applications such as art panels, lamp shades, indoor windows, partitions and so on adding beauty & class to the home décor
While dyeing enhances the aesthetic appeal of glass giving you an illuminated wall/window art; it has the effect of limiting & controlling the free flow of natural lights rather than admit it unrestricted. Hence be ready to compromise on the amount daylight that will be let in.
Making process
There are few methods of preparing Stained Glass – one is during the manufacturing process whereby metallic salts such as iron oxide (for green), copper (for red), cobalt (for blue), silver (for yellow) are added and mixed in varying proportions to get the desired tint.
The other is by painting where colouring, shading highlighting can all be applied to the Glass and fired in the kiln so that it becomes part of the glass surface. The latter is the more commonly used method as it gives finer control of the colour and pattern.
Creating Designs
Stained Glass designs are conventionally done using the Leaded method where glass pieces are bound together using straight Lead strips called “Cames” and soldered. Leaded Glass method is simpler and much easier to make geometric shapes and designs. For intricate designs with curves and varying shapes it is the Copper Foil method that is more suitable. In this method, each piece of cut glass is wrapped with copper foil before soldering. Both methods however provide the same endurance level and beauty.
The versatility of the different methods and process can be harnessed to solution simple designs such as geometric artwork for a door to complex requirements such as a narrative window which relates to a story.
Applications
In Singapore, Stained Glass has been used extensively for
- Windows of Churches and Heritage Buildings
- Skylights of Hotels & Commercial buildings
- Ornamentation of Public places such as MRT stations, Airport, etc
- Glass panels for doors, partition, etc
- Tiffany Lamp shades
- Fused glass applications
At HouseOfGlass we have supplied Stained Glass to many home renovation and interior decoration projects for commercial establishments. Based on the specifications of our valued customers we have the capability to fabricate and provision simple and complex panels within short delivery times.