Belfast-based window specialist, Glassmarque, is continuing restoration work at the Queen's University Belfast Lanyon Building.

The building, named after architect Charles Lanyon, was completed in 1849 and as the years have passed, serious deterioration of the façade has taken place.

An extensive restoration of the stone and brick facade, the roof and the windows was carried out in 2017, with Glassmarque securing the contract for the window restoration. Half of the West facade contains 150-year-old original windows and the other half has lattice windows which were installed around 70 years ago. The North elevation, facing the Lynn Library building, has 51-year-old lattice windows.

As the only company in Ireland to undertake this type of restoration, Glassmarque's technique allowed most of the original frames to be retained, meet with best conservation practice and is much cheaper than the usual method of window replacement. The zinc frames are ornate lattice; some with shaped tops which fit into trefoil shaped stone surrounds. Over time they had corroded badly and were covered in thick layers of paint which had spread over the glass. Many panes were broken and some previous glazing repairs had been badly done. Due to the building not having sufficient ventilation, some sashes were added into the zinc windows many years ago and these had gradually rusted, causing damage to the stone façade. It's fair to say over time, the windows had deteriorated to a serious state.

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This challenging contract involved careful and highly detailed work whilst taking the needs of University life into account at all times. Many of the frames disintegrated as they were removed from the stone façade and had to be completely rebuilt. Frames were painstakingly restored, re-painted and re-glazed using glass made in the antique tradition.  Where ventilation was still inadequate, new bronze frames were painted, glazed and fitted in replacement of the old steel sashes or the original hopper ventilators.  In the North elevation there were over 100 more recently fitted plain windows which were not in keeping with the facade. The challenge here was to replace these with new zinc lattice windows to match the original.

With work still ongoing, the project is expected to be fully completed by March 2019.

As a family run business, Glassmarque have over 25 years in the industry specialising in commercial and residential glazing, heritage window and stained glass restoration.

As the only Northern Irish company with both an aluminium department and a restoration/stained glass department in-house, it's skilled team has the technical knowledge and experience to advise on the best design and spec for your project, no matter how unique or challenging.

For more information, visit www.glassmarque.com

(LM/MH)