When Leadbitter Group was faced with the ambitious project of redeveloping the City’s former Coventry Technical College into a plush new hotel complex for Premier Inn, they contacted TSG to utilize their skilled services.

The £6million project included the replacement of approximately 1250 broken panes of glass to the  Grade II Listed façade as well as the restoration of the building’s imposing 1930’s Art Deco lay light.

Hack out/Reglaze
 Front Elevation
 Three Spires Glass Operations Manager Steve Castano who headed all Three Spires Glass activities on site explains:
“We found the Earlsdon Park redevelopment a refreshing challenge as it required a large quantity of traditional glazing to be completed within a strict time frame. Each pane of broken glass had to be carefully removed from the surrounding framework and all putty removed using hacking knives and hammers, an incredibly laborious task for those concerned considering the high number of breakages that had to be replaced.  Despite this, we sent a team of three skilled operatives who completed all 1200 replacements in a fifteen day turnaround, which helped ease Leadbitter’s tight schedule”.
Left: Works included over 1200 replacement panes
Right: Three Spires Glass operatives prepare for the task ahead
 
 
 
 
 
 Original panel
 What was once the building’s magnificent centre piece, eighty years of deterioration had left the Atrium lay light in a sorry state of repair. Comprising of forty five individual panels, each one had to be carefully removed and returned to TSG’s studio for some much needed TLC.

Three Spires Glass’s Principal Leaded Light Restorer Neil Dixon continues:

“ Most of the panels were in need of a complete rebuild as they had bowed over time, causing many of the soldered joints to crack. Once rebuilt, the panels were refitted over a protective layer of Laminated safety glass and are now back to their former glory”.
          The final panel is fitted into position after restoration:
 Refitting lay light