artist spotlight | sound glass Clearly, using glass in the design of an office, home or business adds a reflective ambience and architectural beauty that is distinctive. Puget Sound homeowners, contractors and designers have been turning to Sound Glass for their glass needs for over 27 years.
care of the customer,” says Wright. Indeed, Sound Glass has served a number of influential people in our community by focusing on customer needs. When Gary Milgard, the local window legend and pioneer, was building a home, he hired Sound Glass to design the glass in his home.
When the owners of the Hotel Murano began the design of their hotel, they had a vision of creating a building that was reflective of the glass culture that Tacoma has become known for, and they appointed Sound Glass. Tom Wright, Vice President of Sound Glass, explains that first of all, the Hotel Murano wanted to create a showcase where glass artists could be featured. “They also wanted all of the building to have a wonderful green, glass look to the design build,” he says. “We collaborated with the artists to achieve their vision and craft a finished end result that is technically stable over time.”
From simple projects to the extravagant, Sound Glass has a long history of caring for customers in the Puget Sound area and designing glass to meet unique design needs. LEAH GROUT Showrooms in Tacoma and Bremerton soundglass.com | 800.468.9949
One of the most complex pieces of this project, Wright explains, was hanging glass in the elevator. They wanted the elevator to be completely surrounded with glass. Technically, Sound Glass had to figure out how to place e-lighting in strips that would illuminate the width of the glass. “We worked with the designer to accomplish this and today the end result looks finished and amazing,” says Wright. Another striking design statement on display at the hotel is the facade’s glass entrance canopy. The designers’ idea was to have as little hardware as possible to create a finished appearance, so visitors would see only glass. “Not a lot of other glass companies could pull this off due to the technical expertise needed,” says Wright. “But Sound Glass has creative salespeople on staff with design and engineering backgrounds, and CAD (computer-aided design) drawings are done in the showroom,” he says. Sound Glass founder Warren Willoughby set up a philosophy of customer service that has allowed the business to excel. “Everyone knows that we have a philosophy to simply take
left image//hotel murano//courtesy of sound glass above image//courtesy of sound glass 17
community
showcase magazine | spring 2012