The story of structural glass is told in many places, but by far its most public presentation is found throughout the history of the shopfront.

Whilst early shops either lacked windows entirely or had tiny mosaics of glass attached to elaborate metal frames, as our ability to create stronger and larger glass panes increased this increased the flexibility of store owners to showcase their products in increasingly elaborate ways.

Many storefronts have embraced a somewhat minimalist approach of large windows and natural materials such as metal or wood, but there are other shopfronts that opt for a far more unusual approach.

Sylvanian Families Shop London

Despite the shift towards e-commerce, there is a profound allure to having a dedicated themed store, which has helped enable a rise in pop-up shops over the years.

One of the most enchanting examples of this perhaps is the Sylvanian Families Shop in London, which evokes a type of old village storefront that is perhaps fitting for the somewhat pastoral style of the eponymous animal miniatures, especially with its green-painted facade.

Fox Fine Wines And Spirits

In 1937, T. Fox & Co, an umbrella shop in London received such a striking and stylish shopfront that even after the store was converted into a wine bar and shop in 2015, it retained its prominent and seemingly eternally youthful facade.

What makes it so special and unusual is down to two types of glass. The first, and most immediately noticeable, is the use of black Vitrolite glass to create a stark, shimmering look that evoked a cutting-edge Art Deco style at the time and has remained timeless ever since.

The other innovation is more subtle but no less impressive. The windows are concave and designed to avoid reflections, which allowed the display to be in full view no matter the weather, albeit at considerable. Only a few shopfronts like this survive to this day.