Glasswells goes for gleaming glazing
Glasswells’ promised landmark building for Ipswich has edged closer to reality with the installation of more than 400 sq. m. of gleaming glass.
The family business, which is East Anglia’s leading home furnishings retailer, has invested around £128,000 in glazing the frontage of its stunning 73,000 sq. ft. showroom on Orwell Retail Park, off Ranelagh Road.
Glass panels – around 150 of them – form most of the 57 metre frontage, creating a 7.5 metre high window into their new £5million showroom. Using a “scissors lift” mobile platform, the specialist contractors raised each panel painstakingly into position.
The building, which dates back to the 1970’s, is being totally transformed and given the distinctive and modern Glasswells’ touch. The showroom is set to build on the success of Glasswells’ flagship store in Bury St. Edmunds, with a wide choice across furniture, accessories and finishing touches for every room in the house. It will create around 90 jobs for the town.
Glasswells’ Ipswich showroom is scheduled to open in December 2008. The site, being developed to a tight schedule, was handed over to Barnes Construction at the end of March.