Historical Skylight Renovations

The Heritage Skylight Series replicates the components and confirmation of historical skylights. The series is ideal for the renovation of skylights in historical building projects or capturing the architectural style of the last century in new construction. The Heritage Skylight Series restores and repairs historical skylights, keeping the overall look while meeting today’s performance and building code standards.

Confirmation

Historical skylights were previously designed in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some of the more common configurations include hipped ridgelights, pyramids, oculus or faceted domes, sawtooth ridgelights, and lanterns with short vertical walls along the perimeter. Often these skylights have smaller bays than typical modern designs. These shapes and more can be achieved with the use of the Heritage Series.

Components

All skylights are made up of two primary components, the framing, and the glazing. Skylights built in the past are no different. The Heritage series framing starts with contemporary aluminum components in a variety of sizes to meet current load requirements but can be finished with one of several different methods.

For example, many historical skylights were framed in plain aluminum or sheet metal. The appearance can be replicated with a clear, anodized finish which provides the same look while preserving the longevity of the material. Other finishes are also available which can provide the appearance of older products like white or flat black paint (we use Kynar or PowderCoat). Alternatively, older skylights can be clad in copper on all visible surfaces.

The glazing for most skylights of the past included a single pane of clear glass. The appearance of single, clear glass is not compromised by using insulated glass when we rehabilitate historical skylights. There are several Low-E products available with the Heritage series that will allow close to 70% light transmission.

Each Heritage series skylight includes a tempered outboard lite with a heat-strengthened laminate interior layer. This meets the modern building code requirements while still providing the appearance of the historical skylight.

In the ’50s and ’60s, wired glass was often used in an effort to keep broken glass contained within the framework of the older skylights. The Heritage Skylight Series is available with a simulated wired glass pattern. The glass makeup is the same as the clear / Low-E product except it is patterned with a ceramic frit on the third surface to give the appearance of wired glass. Patterns available include diamond or “chicken” wire. This look is achieved without compromising the performance or code requirements. (See samples on the right)

Ridge cresting, finials, or lightning rods are just some of the additional options available with the Heritage series to replicate the historical components of older skylights. There are also simulated divided lights and raised horizontal caps to enhance the historical effect.

Historical Skylights CSI Code 08 63 0

Since the term “historical” refers to a time in history, there is no actual standard spec for this product. However, we do create custom specs using our other metal-framed skylight specifications and add several “historical features” to fit your specific project requirements.

Please contact us directly to discuss these custom applications and specifications.