External glazing on a building can have many aspects. It can provide plenty of natural lighting. It can offer those outside the building a clear sight of what lies within, and it can look more welcoming for those who may otherwise be reticent about passing through the door.

Apart from all this, one of the best reasons to bring structural glazing contractors into the heart of a building project may be the stylish and metropolitan look it can give a building.

This, it seems, is the stand-out feature of the new glass frontage of a converted building in Blackburn. Once a car showroom and then a curry restaurant, it is now a mixed-use food and leisure outlet, with a restaurant and dessert parlour on the ground floor, while the upstairs is being converted into a wedding venue.

However, the Lancashire Telegraph reported, it is not the internal work, but the new smart glass frontage that has been most impressive.

Indeed, one local commented: “It looks impressive doesn’t it. It is like a bit of London has just landed in Blackburn,” adding that it looked like “the Shard of Blackburn”.

Of course, the structure has nothing like the scale of the 1,016 ft skyscraper at London Bridge and such a building would be unsuited to a townscape like Blackburn, where the tallest building is just under 200 ft high. But it does show that even in a very different kind of town, a smart glass frontage can give a building a stylish ‘big city’ feel.

There might be more desire and demand for that sort of look in places like Manchester, Salford and Liverpool than neighbouring towns, but there is no reason for buildings in other towns not to take on a more modern look, offering an interesting and eye-catching contrast with the surrounding built environment that may help attract interest and customers.