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Reasonably priced art glass for stairwell?

16 years ago

Hi. We are early in the design process and we'd benefit from your ideas. We'd like a two story prairie-style home with some type of interesting art glass in the stairwell. Ideally, the staircase would consist of two half flights separated by a landing. The landing would have a window seat and some type of art glass above it. The art glass would allow in lots of light but maintain privacy. The glass would be reasonably priced and energy efficient (we live in Wisconsin). Any ideas would be much appreciated.

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Comments (3)

oberon476
16 years ago
good morning bruuunoooooooo (why do I feel like I am channeling Robin Williams when writing the greeting???)...

There is no such thing as an energy efficient artglass panel. I would also venture to say that while there is no such thing as an inexpensive artglass panel - at least nothing that would be worth displaying - reasonable is possible, depending on one's definition of "reasonable" of course.

There are two primary options for displaying an artglass panel in a window - and maintaining energy efficiency. One way is to place the artglass panel between the two lites of an IG (Insulating Glass - or dual pane) unit, and the other way is to mount the artglass panel to outside of the IG - but inside the home.

I suppose it would be possible to mount the panel to an existing window to the outside of the home as well, but I would have to ask why anyone would want to do that.

From an energy and longevity (of the IG) standpoint, mounting the artglass panel outside of the IG is probably a better option. And, personal opinion, it looks a lot better as well.

Whose windows are you considering for your home? Most of the larger and many of the smaller window companies offer artglass upgrades. Some inside the IG, some outside the IG, and some offer both options. Even those that don't advertise might have access to an artglass supplier that you could work with.

And as a ballpark figure, what are you thinking of as a reasonable price?
bruuunooo
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Oberon--

Many thanks for the reply. (Our user name is in honor of a lively Boston terrier who doesn't listen)

It sounds like artglass can work well as a panel mounted to the inside of a standard window. We have met with a home designer (employee of a building company) who suggests Andersen windows with art glass. The ballpark figures seemed high to us, but we are in the design process with a steep learning curve.

We started to think about glass blocks and found some beautiful photos on the Pittsburgh Corning web site. Do you have any experience with glass block for exterior use--stairwell, bathroom window, etc.? I'm concerned that glass block looks beautiful at installation and turns into the dingy stuff of my elementary school gymnasium.
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oberon476
16 years ago
Many folks like glass block look, and while I don't happen to be in that category, that is simply personal preference. In the right location and application, glass block can work quite well.

As a very general rule-of-thumb, glass block is not particularly energy efficient; but I have read that there are some newer options in that area as well, so it may be worthwhile to investigate a bit prior to using it.

Andersen does offer an interesting artglass option. They have several copyrighted designs and they offer some Frank Lloyd Wright designs that are licensed thru the FLW Foundation. Since FLW is synonymous with Prairie style design, it may be worth checking out.

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