Projects

Windows from our workbook

Three windows in the spotlight: the problem, our approach and the bill. Below that, more panes from recent years.

Restored 1930s transom with a rising sun in amber and green glass above a front door, seen from inside with sunlight shining through

Bloemenbuurt, Voorbeeldstad · house from 1934

Rising sun in the Bloemenbuurt

Transom and sidelights of a house from 1934, re-leaded and set in insulated glass.

The lead was worn out. The sidelights were bulging and in a strong wind the transom rattled in its rebate. Three pieces of amber in the sun were cracked, probably for decades.

We made a rubbing, took the panels out and fitted temporary panes the same day. In the studio everything came apart. The old glass was cleaned, and we replaced the three cracked pieces with amber of the same thickness from our glass bank.

Then new lead in the same width as the original, soldered and cemented. Because the residents always felt cold in the hallway, the panels went back in insulated glass. From inside you can still see the lead.

The best compliment: the neighbours couldn’t tell anything had changed.

What: Transom and two sidelights re-leaded, then set in HR++ insulated glass
Glass: 3 pieces of amber from the glass bank, the rest their own glass
Time: 3 weeks in the studio
Costs: €1,480 for all three

Tall new stained glass window in a stairwell, waves in cobalt blue and clear antique glass, blue patches of light on the white wall and the stairs

Town house on the canal ring · house from 1911

Stairwell window for a town house

A new design 2.10 metres tall, in cobalt and clear antique glass.

The old window had once been replaced with clear glass. The owners wanted colour in the stairwell again, but nothing fake.

Charlotte drew waves that rise with the stairs, in cobalt and clear antique glass. The light was already in the sketch: in the morning the blue falls across the steps.

The full-size cartoon had 64 pieces. We chose the glass with the owners at the light table, with daylight behind it, because under a lamp every blue looks the same.

At nine in the morning there’s a blue stripe on the third step.

What: New design for the stairwell, 2.10 × 0.70 m
Glass: Cobalt and clear antique glass, mouth-blown
Time: 5 weeks, first sketch to last putty
Costs: €2,350 including fitting

Full-size working drawing on the workbench with numbered pieces, cut glass in amber and green on top, lead came, a glass cutter and horseshoe nails

Notary’s house, Voorbeeldstad · bay window from 1928

The sixth window of the bay

Five panels restored, the sixth redrawn from a photo from 1952.

One panel of the bay had been replaced with an ordinary pane in the 1970s. All that was left of the original was a black-and-white photo from 1952.

On the photo we counted the pieces and worked out the proportions. That gave us a new cartoon. The colours came from the five panels that were left.

The five old panels were re-leaded. We made the sixth new, with glass from the glass bank that’s just as old. After a year you can’t see the difference.

A photo from 1952 was enough to redraw the sixth window.

What: Five panels restored, the sixth redrawn and made
Glass: Cathedral glass, green and amber, old glass where possible
Time: 4 weeks
Costs: €2,180 for the whole bay

Other work

2026Front door with sidelight, VogelwijkRe-leaded, secondary glazing on the inside
2026Church hall, Oude GrachtSix windows cleaned and the saddle bars renewed
2025Bathroom in a new-build houseNew window in opal and clear cathedral glass
2025Sliding double doors, 1920sTwelve panes replaced from the glass bank
2025Corner caféHouse name in painted and fired glass above the door
2024Flats, twelve transomsEvery transom in one block, in three weeks

Got a window like this at home?

Take the photo from inside, with daylight behind it, and put a folding rule or your hand next to it for scale. You’ll soon hear whether the lead is worn out, and roughly what the job will cost.

Send in a photo of your window or call 06 12345678