Strictly Dazzling Finials

Longstanding Ultraframe fabricator, Maitlands of Pershore, along with its customer Conservatory Village, has completed a large scale installation for a well-known celebrity known for his love of glitz and glamour – so much so that the conservatory was topped off with 3 bespoke glitter ball finials, featuring 20,000 Swarovski crystals. The stunning installation would be sure to score ‘a ten from Len’ and as its famous owner would say, it looks truly "Ah! May! Zing!" 

Maitlands was approached by Conservatory Village - one of its leading retail customers - to help survey and manufacture the large portal conservatory for the luxury home of the primetime TV judge. Before Conservatory Village took the job on, other installation companies had turned the project down, saying it was too complex for them, but Chris Lodge at Conservatory Village knew that he had the technical expertise of Maitlands and Ultraframe to work in partnership with him and took on the project with confidence.

Explaining further about the project and its celebrity owner, Scott Francis of Maitlands, said: “We were approached by Conservatory Village to work on a huge portal conservatory for Strictly Come Dancing judge, Craig Revel Horwood. They told us that several companies had already walked away due to the complexity of the job but here at Maitlands we have 25 years’ experience of specifying and fabricating conservatory roofs and know the outstanding level of technical support that is available to us from Ultraframe should we need it. We agreed to survey, manufacture and help project manage the installation of the complex portal frame and roof and it was a fantastic project to work on.”

The 20-metre wide T-shaped conservatory features a second adjoining lean-to roof to the rear with an Ultraframe Glass Roof and 2-tier cornice. Finished in aluminum anthracite grey and with large span bi-folds on every face, the resulting structure is impressively grand, yet still sleek and contemporary in appearance.

Explaining further about the technical challenges of the project, Scott continued: “The request for aluminium bi-folds on each face of the conservatory posed an added complication due to the structural calculations needed, but with our design team and the backing of the proven Ultraframe system we achieved it. A custom-made double captive bolt box gutter was fixed and supported by a bespoke steel lintel system to ensure the structural integrity of the conservatory. As you would expect, Craig was a stickler for detail and asked if we could produce glitter balls as finials. Never ones to say no, we made 3 glitter balls with Swarovski Crystals - all 20,000 of them individually glued to each finial!”

Concluding about the project, Ultraframe Marketing Director, Alex Hewitt, said: “A huge well done to Maitlands and Conservatory Village for carrying out this impressively large scale installation to such a high quality. The project wasn’t without its technical challenges but working together as a team, we overcame them all and are thrilled with the end result. We give it a perfect 10!”