Structural steel part being hoisted into place on for old world conservatory replica.

In addition to discussing the changes that have been taking place at Tanglewood over the past year which I began to do in my last blog, I also want to chronicle a really amazing project we’ve been working on for about the same amount of time.

It is one of the most challenging and unique project we’ve ever undertaken and it is now in the early stages of it’s on site installation.

The design challenge was to come up with a way of making the steel structure look authentically old – as if it were “found” somewhere in Europe and brought over and refurbished. Once we figured out how to design the building, we then had to figure out how to build it!

The room is to decorate a very substantial new home in the Midwest and enclose a large swimming pool, spa and lounge area. The unique feature of this conservatory pool enclosure is that from the beginning, the design was to mimic a true nineteenth century steel and glass greenhouse conservatory.

The building is supported by a decorative steel and cast iron structure which is then clad with glass. The owners fell in love with the great glass conservatory at Syon Park in London. They were enamored of the way the delicately detailed cast iron structure sits in distinct contrast to the heavier stone structure that encloses it and they wanted Tanglewood’s design to follow this concept.

What emerged is a truly remarkable building, as I think you’ll see.

Here is truck #4 of 6 (large flatbeds), steel and glass conservatory ready for shipment. Pictured is most of the team that has been working on the project.

Pictured below is the steel structure taking shape piece by piece. It was an elaborate jigsaw puzzle that was fabricated over a thousand miles away from the jobsite by several different fabricators working in tandem under Tanglewood’s direction.

The picture on the left is a picture of Nancy and myself with the project architect, the project manager and the owner of the construction company that is building the massive new house.

Those big round openings in the steel trusses are to accommodate a huge HVAC duct that will condition the entire space.

At the time of this writing, the steel structure is complete and we are just beginning the next phase of the erection, the wall and roof framing which will be the subject of my next report.

Alan