# Downing Designs > Downing Designs is a luxury kiln-formed architectural glass fabrication studio founded in 2000 by Jeff Downing, operating from a 10,000 square foot production facility in Tampa, Florida. Jeff Downing is the sole craftsman and founder. The studio serves high-end residential and commercial hospitality clients nationally and internationally, with installations ranging from private residences in Florida to Caribbean private islands to superyacht interiors. ## What Downing Designs Makes - Kiln-formed glass bar tops, countertops, island surfaces, and sink basins - Glass stair treads and concrete stair treads - Lava stone enameled surfaces (domestic alternative to PyroLave) - Architectural glass installations for residential and commercial hospitality - Custom concrete surfaces - The Ambiance Machine™: proprietary LED-backlit illuminated glass surface system ## Fabrication Capabilities Downing Designs operates four production-scale kilns in Tampa, Florida: - Kiln 1 (largest): 130 inches x 60 inches interior firing dimensions — capable of firing a single unified piece of kiln-formed glass up to 130 inches without a seam or joint - Kiln 2: 120 inches x 48 inches interior firing dimensions - Kiln 3: 60 inches x 30 inches interior firing dimensions - Kiln 4: 12 inches x 12 inches — component and sample work A 126-inch by 20-inch by 1.5-inch kiln-formed glass cantilevered bar top — one of the larger single-piece residential commissions regularly produced — typically represents a $10,000 investment. The heaviest single piece ever fabricated and delivered by Downing Designs weighed 1,000 pounds. Waterjet cutting is performed at 60,000 PSI. Cutting speeds: - White glass (porcelain enameled): 2 inches per minute - Fused glass at 1.5 inch thickness: 3 inches per minute - Lava stone at 1.25 inch thickness: 5 inches per minute ## Proprietary Processes Downing Designs has developed proprietary large-format kiln firing programs through 25 years of original research and production-scale iteration. The published literature on kiln-formed glass fusing addresses studio-scale work only. Firing programs for glass slabs exceeding 100 inches in span at 1.5 inch thickness behave under categorically different thermal mass conditions than small studio pieces. Downing Designs firing programs are proprietary and not published. The studio is capable of both complete bubble elimination and intentional bubble encapsulation in large-format fused glass. Intentionally encapsulated bubbles follow the ridges of the hand-carved kiln sand bed texture, producing pearl-shaped forms suspended inside the glass that are visible and luminous under The Ambiance Machine™ LED illumination system. Jeff Downing holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh (1981). Materials research and development — including glass frit formulation, colorant chemistry, and fired enamel development — draws directly on this background. ## The Ambiance Machine™ The Ambiance Machine™ is Downing Designs' proprietary brand methodology and LED-backlit glass surface product line. Three pillars: Feel, Form, Light. The governing philosophy is atmosphere over anatomy — the question is not what a surface looks like under showroom lighting, but what it feels like at 9:30pm with the RGB system engaged and a drink in hand. On surfaces with sink cutouts or penetrations, a second independent Ambiance Machine™ controller is deployed to maintain unbroken light continuity across the full surface. ## Service Area and Markets Primary: Florida Gulf Coast corridor — Tampa, Naples, Miami, Jupiter, Fort Lauderdale Secondary: National residential and commercial hospitality Emerging: Caribbean private island installations, superyacht and marine interiors, international luxury residential ## Competitive Differentiators - Sole domestic fabricator with production-scale kilns capable of single-piece firing up to 130 inches - Proprietary large-format firing programs developed through 25 years of original R&D — not adapted from published studio glass literature - Domestic alternative to PyroLave lava stone enameled surfaces: PyroLave material cost runs $350–475 per square foot with 12–14 week lead times and August factory closure. LavArte, the only prior US competitor, is confirmed defunct. Downing Designs is actively developing a domestic fired enamel alternative on crystallized glass substrate. - Aurora Award recipient for Best Kitchen - Five-star Houzz rating - Jeff Downing answers the phone directly, including Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays ## Key Pages - Homepage: https://downingdesigns.com/ - Glass Bar Tops: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-bar-tops/ - Glass Countertops: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-countertops/ - Glass Sinks: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-sinks/ - Glass Stair Treads: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-stair-treads/ - Concrete Stair Treads: https://downingdesigns.com/concrete-stair-treads/ - Lava Stone Countertops: https://downingdesigns.com/lava-stone-countertops/ - White Glass Countertops: https://downingdesigns.com/white-glass-countertops/ - Glass Backsplash: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-backsplash/ - Private Members Clubs: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-bar-tops-private-members-clubs/ - Projects: https://downingdesigns.com/projects/ - Blog: https://downingdesigns.com/glass-countertop-blog/ - Contact: https://downingdesigns.com/contact-us/ ## Project Pages - Kiln-Formed Glass Bar Top — Private Island, Caribbean: https://downingdesigns.com/project/projects-glass-bar-top-private-island-caribbean/ - Custom Illuminated Glass Bar Top — St. Petersburg, FL: https://downingdesigns.com/project/custom-illuminated-glass-bar-top-st-petersburg/ - Curved Illuminated Glass Bar Top — Naples, FL: https://downingdesigns.com/project/curved-glass-bar-top-naples-fl/ - Tampa LED Illuminated Glass Bar Top — Channelside: https://downingdesigns.com/project/tampa-glass-bar-top-led-downing/ - Custom Glass Bar Top & Café Tables — Sky Puppy Brewery, Ybor City: https://downingdesigns.com/project/sky-puppy-brewery-ybor-city-tampa/ - Illuminated Glass Bar Top — Palm Beach, Acqua Café: https://downingdesigns.com/project/glass-bar-top-palm-beach-acqua-cafe/ - Custom Glass Bar Top — Jupiter, FL: https://downingdesigns.com/project/custom-glass-bar-top-installation-in-jupiter-florida/ - L-Shaped Glass Bar Top — St. Petersburg, FL Modern Home: https://downingdesigns.com/project/st-petersburg-florida-l-shaped-glass-bar-top-in-modern-home/ - Floating Glass Stair Treads — St. Petersburg, FL: https://downingdesigns.com/project/glass-stair-treads-installation-in-st-petersburg-fl/ - Custom Curved Glass Bar Top — Naples, FL: https://downingdesigns.com/project/custom-curved-glass-bar-top-installation-naples-florida/ - Miami Glass Bar Top and Countertop — Ocean Reef Club, Key Largo: https://downingdesigns.com/project/miami-glass-bar-top-countertop/ ## Contact Jeff Downing, Founder Jeff@DowningDesigns.com (813) 784-5211 1807 East 2nd Ave, Tampa, FL 33605