Roof Lanterns Glasgow: Styles, Sizes and Prices Explained

If you’re extending your kitchen, replacing a tired conservatory roof, or just want more light into a dark room, a roof lantern is one of the most effective upgrades you can make. This guide covers the different styles available, the sizes we hold in stock, the glass specification, and what you should expect to pay — fitted or supply only — across Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

What Is a Roof Lantern?

A roof lantern is a raised, pitched glass structure fitted into a flat roof. Unlike a flat skylight, it projects upward, which gives a room a genuine sense of height and lets in light from multiple angles throughout the day rather than just from directly above.

They’re most commonly used to:

• Replace an old, leaking conservatory roof with a solid, insulated ceiling and a glazed centrepiece
• Bring light into the centre of a kitchen or living space extension, away from the external walls
• Add a feature to a flat-roofed single-storey extension

Roof Lantern vs Flat Rooflight: What’s the Difference?

We fit two distinct products, and it’s worth knowing which one suits your project before you start pricing it up.

Roof lanterns are the traditional shaped option — a pitched, multi-panel glass roof structure that sits proud of the flat roof below. They come in three shapes:

• Square lanterns — an even pyramid shape, ideal where the opening is roughly square
• Regular lanterns — a rectangular pitched roof, the most common choice for kitchen extensions
• Contemporary lanterns — the same rectangular shape but with slimmer sightlines for a more minimal, glass-heavy look

Flat rooflights are a different product altogether — a single, flat double-glazed unit that sits at a slight pitch (we specify a 5° pitched kerb as standard) so rainwater runs off. They give a much lower-profile, almost invisible-from-inside finish, and are a popular choice where a lantern’s upstand would look too heavy, or on modern, minimalist extensions.

Neither is “better” — it depends on the look you want and the roof you’re working with.

Stock Sizes

We hold the following sizes in stock, which keeps lead times short. Bespoke sizes outside these ranges can also be manufactured to order.

Square Lanterns 1000 x 1000mm · 1250 x 1250mm · 1500 x 1500mm · 1750 x 1750mm · 2000 x 2000mm

Regular Lanterns 1000 x 2000mm · 1500 x 2500mm · 2000 x 3000mm · 2000 x 4000mm

Contemporary Lanterns 1000 x 1500mm · 1000 x 2000mm · 1000 x 2500mm · 1000 x 3000mm · 1500 x 1750mm · 1500 x 2000mm · 1500 x 2250mm · 1500 x 2500mm · 1500 x 2750mm · 1500 x 3000mm

Flat Rooflights 1000 x 1000mm · 1000 x 1500mm · 1000 x 2000mm (bespoke sizes available up to 1400 x 2000mm and 1000 x 3000mm on longer lead times)

All dimensions given are external kerb sizes. If your opening falls outside these, we’ll price a bespoke unit — it just adds a little to the lead time.

Frame, Glass and Colours

All our stock lanterns and rooflights are aluminium framed, with a toughened double-glazed unit as standard.

Solar control, self-cleaning glass is included as standard on every unit — no upgrade needed for that part. This does two jobs: the solar coating cuts down on the greenhouse effect that glass roofs are prone to in summer, and the self-cleaning coating keeps the outer pane cleaner for longer, which matters given how hard roof glazing is to reach.

On lanterns, standard glass carries a 1.2 W/m²K U-value, with a free upgrade to 1.0 W/m²K available if you ask for it when ordering (this adds a few extra days to the lead time — see below). Flat rooflights come with a 1.0 W/m²K U-value as standard, with a further free upgrade available to our higher-performance Cool-Lite glass for improved solar and light control.

Stock colour options are:

• White
• Anthracite Grey
• Anthracite Grey / White (dual colour)
• Black
• Black / White (dual colour)

Dual-colour options let you match a darker external finish with a lighter internal frame, which is a popular choice for keeping a room bright while matching darker window and door frames outside.

Lead Times

Because we hold these ranges in stock, turnaround is quick: 5 working days plus next-day delivery on a standard stock lantern or rooflight. If you request the free upgrade to 1.0 W/m²K glazing, that extends to 8–10 days, and the Cool-Lite upgrade on flat rooflights adds a further 5–7 days. Bespoke sizes outside the stock range will take longer — we’ll confirm a lead time when we quote.

How Much Does a Roof Lantern Cost?

Prices start from £1,500 fitted for a smaller flat rooflight, with the final cost depending on:

• Size and shape of the unit
• Lantern style vs flat rooflight
• Glass specification (standard or upgraded U-value)
• Colour and any dual-colour finish
• Access and the structural work needed to form the opening

We offer both supply only and supply and fit — so if you have your own installer or are managing a wider extension project yourself, we can supply the unit alone. For a full installation, our own fitting teams handle the structural opening, upstand, and glazing as one job, backed by our 10-year guarantee.

The only way to get an accurate figure for your project is a free design consultation, but as a guide, a straightforward stock-size flat rooflight fitted into an existing flat roof sits at the lower end of the range, while a larger bespoke lantern with an upgraded glass spec will cost more.

Do I Need Planning Permission for a Roof Lantern?

In most cases, no — roof lanterns typically fall under permitted development rights. It’s worth checking with your local planning authority if your property is listed or in a conservation area, or if the lantern forms part of a larger extension that needs its own planning consent.

Getting a Roof Lantern Fitted in Glasgow and the West of Scotland

All our lanterns and rooflights are manufactured at our factory in Clydebank and fitted by our own teams across Glasgow and the West of Scotland — we don’t subcontract the manufacturing out. Browse our full roof lanterns and flat rooflights range, or if you’re weighing up a roof lantern against replacing a conservatory roof entirely, our Conservatory Roof Replacement page covers that option too.

Book a free design consultation or get in touch for a price on your project.