Installation Video of Copper Conservatory Project

One of our lead installation craftsmen has turned out to be quite a movie maker. We’ve nicknamed him “Spielberg”.

We asked him to document the last conservatory installation project—a job in Montana, and he came back with a video production fit for the “Modern Marvels” series!

This was a unique project in that the conservatory was completely clad with copper so we had to do quite a bit of on site specialty work. The location is also spectacular. It’s an island in the middle of a large lake with access only by water. All the parts and pieced had to be crated and moved by barge to the island.

While he and his partner were there, they also visited Glacier National Park and produced an exceptional video presentation of the exquisite scenery set to classical music.

We’re thinking of promoting him to VP of Conservatory Video Production. Check out his Shelter Island, Montana presentation on our site.

I was thinking about the pictures of the Kibble Palace Conservatory that I posted on the blog last time and its amazing sense of “plasticity” when Mehmet sent me a link to a very interesting and relevant NYT article titled: The Nature of Glass Remains Anything but Clear By KENNETH CHANG.

Chang starts out with this unusual factoid: “Peer into its molecules, and glass is indiscernible from a liquid.” He then goes on to ask: “So how can it be hard? And how does it get that way?”

Evidently, scientists are still puzzling about this—although there seems to be as much contention about whether the problem has actually been solved as to what the solution is.

The often quoted “fact” that “panes of stained glass in old European churches are thicker at the bottom because glass is actually a slow-moving liquid that flows downward over centuries” is incorrect according to the author. He states “medieval stained glass makers were simply unable to make perfectly flat panes, and the windows were just as unevenly thick when new.”

“The tale contains a grain of truth about glass resembling a liquid, however. The arrangement of atoms and molecules in glass is indistinguishable from that of a liquid.”

“For scientists, glass is not just the glass of windows and jars, made of silica, sodium carbonate and calcium oxide. Rather, a glass is any solid in which the molecules are jumbled randomly. Many plastics like polycarbonate are glasses, as are many ceramics.”

The article proves to be an interesting peek into the ongoing scientific research of this “obscure” but important area of natural phenomenon. Take a look, it’s quite fascinating.

Alan

Mehmet standing in front of the building

Our Senior Designer Mehmet just returned from a two week vacation during which he traveled throughout the beautiful rugged highlands of northern Scotland. He went as far north as the Orkney Islands. Mehmet has been making regular trips like this to wonderful and exotic places a couple of times each year since he’s been with Tanglewood – now almost fifteen years!

His love of beautiful, unspoiled, authentic locales has led him through Western and Eastern Europe, to Morocco, the Americas and to his homeland Turkey many times.

One legacy of these wonderful trips has been an amazing library of photographs particularly focused on the architecture. Often he’ll shoot just a window or a doorway or a small detail of a building framed in the most artistic manner. Sometimes these serve as inspiration for Tanglewood projects current or future. Much of the unique character of Tanglewood’s work is the result of his artistic and creative capabilities.

We’re of course always interested in the conservatories he visits and photographs from around the world.

Edinburgh Conservatory

The classic shot that is often used when photographing the Edinburgh Conservatory.

Here is his photograph of the great Tropical Palm House at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh Scotland. It was built in 1858 and is the second oldest in Great Britain. Designed by R. Matheson, it was built to replace an older structure when the palm trees grew so tall that they protruded through the roof. It is also one of the tallest conservatories at 22 meters. Note the human sized doorway and you’ll get a sense of the scale of the building!

Kibble Palace Conservatory

Mehmet in front of the Kibble Palace conservatory built in 1865 at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens in Scotland.

Kibble Palace Conservatory Interior

The Kibble Palace conservatory is an amazing structure as it almost seems to be covered with a “plastic” material (which of course glass actually is).

Look at the fantastic sweeping curves and the amazing lack of support “structure” shown in this photograph. Could this REALLY be a glass structure? Truly, it is a “glass skin” but unlike the modernist concept which supports the skin with a separate articulated structure, this skin is also the skeleton itself attached to the earth only around the perimeter and a few places in between.

Kibble Palace Conservatory Exterior

This is Mehmet’s photograph of the exterior of the Kibble conservatory. It appears as hardly more than an elegantly formed, solidified soap bubble. No wonder we all fell in love with these fantastic buildings!

From its very beginnings, Tanglewood Conservatories has been inspired by these majestic architectural expressions and sought to bring the same creative ingenuity that brought them to life into all our modern-day conservatory projects.

Alan

Matthew Glover of Conservatory Outlet and author of the Renegade Conservatory Guy blog, has posted an interview with me which I encourage you to go and read.

Matthew is the one who earlier commented on my blog that the success of Tanglewood’s car pool program should not preclude the purchasing of a hybrid car.

As we conversed, I discovered some very interesting things about him. Matthew’s company produces an amazing 700 uPVC windows per week—all in a space about one third the size of our shop! He is aiming to reach 1,200 units per week as he strives to supply thirteen dealer outlets throughout a large portion of the UK.

His is a completely different business model than Tanglewood Conservatories, though he has my highest admiration for his ability to focus on and succeed in maximizing efficiency and controlling his production costs. He does this while maintaining a high level of quality and service in what I know is a VERY competitive market.

Here’s how he describes his company: “Conservatory Outlet specializes in manufacturing bespoke uPVC conservatories, windows, doors and double glazing products. We supply a network of home improvement companies throughout the UK, each with the same great product, service and quality.”
He goes on to say: “The advantage of dealing with Conservatory Outlet is that you get the best service possible from one of our local conservatories, doors and windows installers, with the backing of one of the UK’s leading manufacturers.”

Check out his website and his conservatory blog for an interesting counterpoint on the conservatory market and also see my interview.

Alan