Kensington Glass Arts Inc., a Mid-Atlantic glass manufacturer, commercial glazier, and distributor of architectural glass, celebrates its 45th anniversary.
Kensington Glass Arts began in July 1976 as a custom stained glass window fabrication company called Victorian Glassworks. Over the next ten years, the product lines had expanded to include etched and carved glass and the company was widely recognized as the premier art glass fabricator in the Wasington, D.C., area with a wide range of private and commercial clients.
“It has been my honor and privilege to witness what a dedicated and focused group of people have achieved here at KGa over the last 45 years,” says David Stone, CEO of KGa. “What grew from simple beginnings has really blossomed into something quite unique and special and I couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved together. As my role has evolved over time, the company continued to blossom with the leadership of the team and the future is brighter than ever.”
In 1987 the company was incorporated and rebranded as Kensington Glass Arts Inc., KGa and the work expanded to include a wider range of glass products and processes. The following years saw KGa continuously pivot to meet the growing usage of glass in commercial office interiors and away from stained glass. Eventually, the work evolved to focus on high-end corporate installations including such diverse projects as museum display casework, glass partitions, and elaborate, technically challenging art-glass pieces of all types. Clients have included almost every major law firm, hotel, and corporate client in the D.C. market.
As KGa grew continuously, it was natural that in 2002 they invested in building a full-scale glass manufacturing and processing facility in Ijamsville, Maryland. At that time, it was the only glass tempering facility and remains the only ISO9001 quality certified plant in the state of Maryland. In 2020, a second manufacturing plant was established in Sterling, Virginia, increasing production capacity and spearheading expansion in the fabrication of specialty laminated glass products.
Today, KGa employs approximately 250 people between installation and fabrication teams from facilities in Ijamsville, Frederick, Baltimore, Sterling and Richmond, Virginia. As the company continues to grow into the largest supplier and installer of custom glass products in the D.C./Baltimore/Richmond market, quality remains the singular focus and the foundation upon which the company was founded.
