2022 Makes A Century For Boyce Western Glass

Philip Boyce, Director of Boyce Western Glass, is the fourth generation of the Boyce family glaziers. Last year the Boyce family celebrated 100 years in the glass and glazing industry. The original family business, in Birmingham UK, was founded in 1922 by Philip’s great, great grandfather and this is where, in his early teenage years, Philip started his career, joining the glazing teams learning the glazing trade ‘hands on’.

In 1992, Philip and his wife Hazel emigrated to Perth, and he joined his father working from a glass studio in the Darling Range Foothills, trading as Boyce Western Glass. The business was highly regarded and well known for providing a complete service in commercial and domestic glazing and traditional leadlight services throughout the Perth region.

With a reputation for outstanding craftsmanship and attention to customer service, Boyce Western Glass soon outgrew the Hills studio, and in 2006 moved to a larger purpose-built factory unit in High Wycombe. The move allowed Boyce Western Glass to increase its stockholdings of glass including some modern textures such as Everglade and Charcoal Sticks, as well as the traditional favourites of Waverly Flemish, Seadrift, Kosciusko, and some obsolete patterns such as Bronze Mayo and Amber Seadrift. With a focus on stained glass and general glazing, Boyce Western Glass has become an independent glass supplier for both trade and retail customers, sourcing quality glass from around the globe including Europe and America.

Boyce Western Glass has been involved in numerous restorations and new projects including churches and heritage-listed properties, as having built up a small stock of obsolete glass leadlight glass enables them to match glass for this sort of renovation work. The business has a long and rich history in traditional stained glass and provides superior manufacturing and preservation of genuine lead and zinc lights. The showroom in High Wycombe is a stained-glass hobbyist’s delight, with a range of specialist stained-glass tools and an Aladdin’s cave of stained glass allowing artists and homeowners to browse for hours, choosing colours and patterns to give that impact statement to their project.

To cater for a wider range of customer budgets, Boyce Western Glass specialises in Simulated Stained Glass and is the Australian distributor for the Regalead range of selfadhesive film and lead products. This form of stained glass has the versatility to create stunning, realistic, and cost-effective stainedglass features for modern homes, as well as to replicate older traditional designs for heritage-listed and church buildings and the older Perth suburbs. Ranging from Australiana themes such as gumnuts and parrots, abstract designs and traditional Art Deco, the in-house artist will happily show customers how to use the Simulated Stained Glass to create their own masterpiece or stunning ambience and enjoyment to any space.

The move to the purpose-built factory also allowed Philip and Hazel to acquire local companies Kalamunda Glass and Windscreens on Wheels. The businesses all moved into the same premises enabling Boyce Western Glass to offer an increased range of general and specialised glazing services, from shower screens and commercial glazing to new and repair work for stained-glass leadlights.

Philip also has his Windscreen Fitter’s licence, and through Windscreens on Wheels offers both a mobile and in-house fitting service for truck and vehicle windscreen and body glass, as well as custom-cut glass for earthworks and farm machinery and classic car renovation.

We asked Philip what he enjoys most about being in the glass trade, to which he replied ‘I would say the variety that being glazier can offer. You can be fitting a shower screen in the morning and repairing a traditional leadlight in the afternoon and the following day fit a shop front and a truck windscreen. In between, I can be in the showroom chatting to local stainedglass hobbyists or helping a colleague in the trade match some old textured glass. Each day is different, and each presents its own challenges which keeps it interesting.’

Boyce Western Glass is in the unique position of being a ‘One Stop Shop’ for both trade and retail customers, from the design and selection of glass to professional advice on selecting the right glass according to Australian Glazing Standards, through to final onsite installation.

With a legacy of 100 years in the glazing industry, Philip and Hazel are proud to be continuing the Boyce family tradition of quality and excellence in workmanship and commitment to old fashioned customer service they hope for many more years to come.