Xavier College Gawler

Early 2013 we crafted a significant leadlight work for the new chapel at Xavier College.

The window was designed by renowned artist Gail Donovan, who has been responsible for designing many inspiring leadlights around Australia and overseas. 

Gail's use of colour is always inspiring and each element of the design has a symbolic meaning.

The entire window stands 2.5 metres tall and 5 metres wide. 

Due to the size of the work the seven windows were each comprised of 3 or 4 panels which were 'stacked' at the time of installation.

The panels took almost 6 weeks to create due to their complexity and technical requirements.

This installation was truly a team effort by everyone at Adelaide Leadlight to create such a beautiful work on what was a very short timeline.

It was also a great pleasure to work with Gail Donovan in bringing her design to life. 

Victoria Park Grandstand Restoration

The historic grandstand has been undergoing complete restoration in several stages. 

In late 2012 we were commissioned to reproduce 20 leadlight panels in the style of those which would have originally adorned the building.

In light of the heritage value of the building, great care was taken to match the original designs and lead came structure, incorporating old glasses where necessary.    

 

Phillip Kennedy Centre Chapel
Southern Cross Care, Largs Bay

In February 2012 we completed a commission at the new Phillip Kennedy Centre Chapel.

Management of the nursing home asked that we incorporate some of the old leadlights salvaged from the former Catholic church adjacent to the property, as a way of maintaining a small part of its heritage.

We were able to restore and remodel three old panels to form the door panel shown to the right.

Below, you can clearly see four old arched highlights now created into a single window above the entrance to the chapel.

We also created four larger new leadlight panels in a complimentary but more modern style for the area behind the altar. 

Westminster School

The Jeffries Chapel at Westminster School was a major undertaking for us in 2010. 

The window comprises 64 panels, each being about 2 metres tall.  The height of the overall installation is about 9 metres.

The design for the window was originally created by Brenton about 5 years ago when the school first approached us.  Their only requirement was that the window should follow a similar design to the panels at the western end of the chapel, which we installed in 2004. 

 Designing the window presented a few challenges in respect of its fragmented nature, and the obscuring balcony and organ.  The lower level of panels can only be seen fully from the stairwell running up against the glass behind the balcony.  Only the very top edge of the lower panels can be seen from inside the actual chapel. 

The original design was drafted by hand, but the full scale drawings were created and printed on computer to ensure that circular lines at the centre of the design were aligned.

Actual construction of the 64 panels took 3-4 months to complete.  Somehow we managed to squeeze these in whilst still keeping up with our normal workload.

Installation of the leadlight panels and outer protective glazing was completed over 2 weeks. 

Luckily, the weather was kind to us although it still feels a bit precarious 11 metres up when the wind picks up

Unfortunately, the chapel organ obscures the window at present, but we understand that the school may be looking into relocating it to one side in future.

Murray Bridge Catholic Church

We created these windows for the western face of the Murray Bridge Catholic Church in late 2010.

The design was created by one of the parishioners of the church several years ago with the hope that it would one day adorn the windows of the church. 

We carefully adapted the design for leadlight while remaining as faithful as possible to the spirit and colours of the original.  Some of the finer details of the windows were painted and fired onto the glass.

 

 

 

Raukken Church

In 2007 we were commissioned to reproduce the stained glass windows in the Raukken church.  Raukken is an historical aboriginal settlement on Lake Alexandrina, just near Narrung.   The church, which features on the Australian $50 note, was in the process of being completely restored.

Virtually nothing remained of the original windows after decades of neglect and vandalism.  Our only reference was an old black and white photo and the names of the four aboriginal servicemen in whose memory the windows were created following World War I.

 

 

It was a great honour to recreate these panels for the people of Raukken, who we found to be very welcoming and proud of their history.