What does kiln-carved mean on a glass bar top?

Kiln-carving is a process in which glass is fired in a kiln over a textured bed — in this case, a hand-worked sand surface — so the heat softens the glass and allows it to take on the precise contours of the texture beneath it. The result is a surface that is permanently part of the glass, not applied to it. The texture lives on the underside, meaning the top surface stays smooth and cleanable while the visual depth lives below, amplified by the LED light source behind it.

How is a glass bar top supported without drilling through the glass?

Three cantilevered steel brackets, anchored into the bar structure below, carry the full load of the glass surface. The glass rests on the bracket faces and is bonded with ultra-clear silicone — no hardware passes through the glass at any point. This eliminates stress concentration points, aesthetic intrusion, and future maintenance issues caused by through-drilling.

How does the LED lighting system work inside a kiln-carved glass bar top?

The Ambiance Machine™ RGB LED system mounts along the interior edge of the bar structure and fires light upward through the glass. The carved texture catches and scatters that light, creating a surface that appears to glow from within. The system operates across 8 million color combinations at 0–100% intensity, with programmable scenes and optional photocell trigger that activates the bar automatically at dusk.

What are the maintenance requirements for a kiln-carved glass bar top?

The surface requires no special treatment. The top surface is smooth polished glass — cleaning is the same as any glass surface, a damp cloth or standard glass cleaner. No sealing, no waxing, no periodic treatment required. Low-iron glass is non-porous, does not stain, and does not react with alcohol, citrus, or cleaning products.

How was the wave texture pattern developed for the Mantoloking glass bar top?

The texture was designed interactively — client and craftsman working from the bar's geometry and the room's flow to arrive at a pattern that felt native to the space. Once the bar base drawings were confirmed, multiple textural iterations were developed. The client selected the wave pattern, which was then scaled and anchor-pointed so the hand-worked sand bed in the kiln matched it as faithfully as the process allows.

What is the Park City glass bar top made of?

It is a single arced span of 1.5-inch low-iron glass, kiln-fused and textured to over 1,400°F. Low-iron glass eliminates the green cast of standard glass, so light travels cleanly through the 1.5-inch thickness.

How large is the bar top?

The arced front bar is 92 inches long, 16 inches deep at each end, and 24 inches deep at the apex of the arc.

How is the glass bar top lit?

A dot-less RGB LED system runs the full length of the arc and is fully concealed, producing a continuous field of color with no visible points of light. It shifts from daylight-neutral to deep blue in the evening.

How was the wave texture created?

The feathered wave texture was drawn interactively at the Downing Designs studio with the homeowners, making it a custom pattern rather than a stock finish.

How is a glass bar top shipped and installed?

Each piece is built into a custom crate engineered to its exact dimensions, insured for full replacement value door to door, and delivered to ground level by lift gate service. Downing Designs fabricates, delivers, and installs nationwide from Tampa, Florida.

Project / Park City, Utah

Park City Glass Bar Top: A Wave of Light in the Mountains

Arced low-iron glass bar top with hand-drawn wave texture in a Park City, Utah kitchen, daylight

Park City, Utah — 92" arced low-iron glass bar top in daylight

A 92-inch arced glass bar top, fused and textured by hand to over 1,400°F, set into a Park City kitchen where soft muted tones let the glass become the one thing you look at.

When Tom Petro first sketched out his kitchen, he had a clear instinct about restraint. The lines were simple, the palette soft and muted, and everything in the room was chosen to step back so that one element could step forward. That element is the bar top: an arcing sweep of low-iron glass that catches daylight in one hour and turns to liquid cobalt the next.

The lines are simple, the colors soft and muted, and so the glass top will be the feature and will not be in competition with other features. Tom Petro, Homeowner

That was the brief. What arrived, installed and lit, is a surface that reads as moving water — a feathered wave pattern drawn interactively over the internet with Tom and his wife, so the texture is not a stock finish but a record of a conversation between the maker and the people who would live with it every day. See how we texture glass here.

What Is This Bar Top Made Of?

The bar is a single arced span of 1.5-inch low-iron glass, fused and textured in the kiln to over 1,400°F. Low-iron is the difference between glass that reads clean and glass that reads green at the edges; at an inch and a half thick, that clarity is what lets light travel through the wave instead of stopping at the surface. Here is a similar floating bar top.

Lit From Within

A dot-less RGB LED system runs the length of the arc, hidden entirely — no visible points of light, just a continuous field of color that shifts from daylight-neutral to deep blue as the evening comes on. See our LEDs on glass here. During the day, the texture is the feature. At 9:30pm, the tunable RGB light is. Here is what other bar tops look like at 9:30pm.

Project Spotlight

LocationPark City, Utah

Glass1½" low-iron, kiln-fused architectural glass

DesignCustom arced bar top — 92" long

Dimensions16" deep at each end, expanding to a generous 24" at the apex of the curve

TextureHand-carved feathered wave pattern, created collaboratively with the homeowners during the design process

LightingFully concealed, dot-less RGB LED illumination that transforms the bar into an elegant evening centerpiece

General ContractorMark Newman

Fabrication & InstallDowning Designs — Tampa, Florida

Cantilevered arced glass bar top glowing cyan blue under concealed LED, Park City Utah kitchen — Concealed dot-less RGB LED, cyan at dusk

Blue-lit textured glass bar top with mountain views through kitchen windows, Park City Utah — Mountain light through the kitchen windows

Glass bar top lit deep blue in an open living space with fireplace, Park City Utah — Deep cobalt, evening, from the living room

Daylight view of arced low-iron glass bar top showing hand-drawn wave texture, Park City Utah — Unlit, daylight — the texture doing the work

What Is It Like to Build in Ski Country?

Park City is a beautiful place to work and a difficult one to schedule. Panoramic mountain views, a quaint village full of good restaurants and interesting people — and fresh snow that turns a routine install into a logistics problem. General contractor Mark Newman was excellent throughout, keeping crews on site through the weather. The honest truth about Park City in winter is that most of the crew would rather be on the mountain, and getting the work done anyway is its own kind of craftsmanship.

How Does Glass This Size Travel Safely?

A piece like this crosses the country before it ever catches the light. Ninety-two inches of textured glass doesn't travel casually — it travels the way it's meant to: built into a custom crate, insured for its full value, and set down at the door by lift gate rather than dropped at a dock. The install is only the last hour of a journey that's protected from the first.

Custom Crated

Each piece is built into its own crate, engineered around its exact dimensions and profile.

Fully Insured

Insured for full replacement value, door to door, for the entire trip.

Lift Gate Delivery

Lowered to ground level by lift gate service — no dock, no drop, no risk at the last step.

The Result

A muted, restrained kitchen with one thing in it that stops you. That was the whole idea from the first sketch. The glass doesn't compete — it doesn't have to. It's the only wave in the mountains that changes color when the sun goes down.

Like What You See?

Every glass piece is designed with your direct input. We don't have office hours. We have phones.

813.784.5211