About Us

Duke Glass, Inc. was formed by Charles Duke in August of 1983, the month that Hurricane Alicia made landfall in Houston, TX. Charles, who had 3 years of experience as a residential glazier in Houston at the time, seized the opportunity to provide glass replacements in a time of need. With the support of wife, Ann, and in support of three hungry children (three more to follow), the story of Duke Glass begins. Many of the same values and priorities needed for the company’s initial success persist to this day and allow for a continued success as Houston’s premier family-owned commercial contract glazier; a success emerging from and repeatedly affected by the impact of Hurricanes.

The 1980’s in Houston were a time marked with economic ups and downs, but with opportunity for an entrepreneur up to the task of servicing a growing population. In this period, Duke Glass initially specialized in custom mirrors and shower doors in residential settings. When the housing market collapsed without a corresponding reduction in the quantity of mouths to feed at home, Charles found work in commercial storefronts. This represented a significant change in direction, filled with opportunity for success in a larger market, but also with a greater risk of failure and a demand for unwavering commitment.

Nights often consisted of self-tutorials in drafting and much of the other “office work” needed for a business to evolve from a man with a truck to a legitimate commercial glazing operation. Of course, the installation still had to be completed and would take place during the day, most often by Charles, himself. This commitment to make each project a success has endured as perhaps the most critical characteristic engrained into the Duke Glass culture to this day.

The 1990’s and 2000’s saw hundreds of increasingly large and complex commercial projects added to the company’s resume. Throughout that time, relationships with General Contractors were cultivated and a strong pattern was established in that customers grew to appreciate the positive results of the Duke Glass commitment, each year requiring more of it than the previous! The Houston market needed more of what Duke Glass could offer, and thus the company steadily and organically grew to accommodate this need.

In 2005, Charles’ eldest son, Charlie, a graduate of Texas A&M University, joined the company. Duke Glass had grown to an office staff of 5 prior to Charlie’s arrival, with the vast majority of office time being very closely involved with the installation of the product. The addition of a Finance and Accounting major with a CPA license to this dynamic represented an investment in the company that may not have been a ready-made fit, but one which the family saw great potential long term value in. Tasked with learning the technical details of the glazing industry, but armed with a proficiency with numbers and attention to detail, Charlie set to work on learning the business. Charlie is currently the Director of Project Management.

The following year, Charles’s son, Aaron, joined the company, as well. Aaron was also a graduate of Texas A&M University, but had attained a degree in Construction Management and worked with a General Contractor prior to coming on board. This experience and Aaron’s unique proficiency in mechanical problem solving and “hands on” work amounted to an instant injection of construction know-how capacity, beginning in fabrication and ultimately evolving to support his current role as Director of Operations. With the addition of both Aaron and Charlie, a new form of the company had emerged, which was ready and able to fulfill the ever-increasing demands for Duke Glass’ brand of service.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall in Houston. By now Duke Glass was installing not just storefront, but curtain wall and other specialty glass products. With the recent developments in the glazing industry, Hurricane Impact glazing systems began to more and more affect the local construction market. Duke Glass’ experience with these products, which utilized an added lite of glass and laminating interlayer product, began with a few relatively smaller Impact Rated projects, followed shortly by a large ($10 million) project for Dow Chemical in Lake Jackson. This project required utilization of a system tested specifically by Duke Glass, as the available tested products could not achieve the proper rating and maintain the architect’s design intent.

At the time, most local glaziers, architects, and contractors did not have much experience with this sort of product, so navigating through these early projects involved not only strict adherence to tested installation methods, but also much increased focus on interpretation of specifications and design intent. It was clear that some parties were going to need to take the lead on a both broad and deep understanding of the Impact Glazing market, and Duke Glass decided to be one to do it. Since this time, Duke Glass has installed nearly 500,000 square feet of Hurricane Impact Glazing.

After the successful incorporation of Charles’ sons into critical positions and having made the decision to emphasize technical competence and customer support, Duke Glass continued to take on more complex projects, such as Structural Glass Walls, Glass Floors & Ceilings, Flood Barriers, 4-Sided Silicone Glazed (Capless) Curtain Walls. With each new technical undertaking, an added level of technical proficiency was incorporated into the cumulative knowledge held by the family members and support staff.

During this time period, following the burst of the housing bubble and related decrease in spec office building construction in Houston, Duke Glass diversified to also utilize its accumulated commercial glazing knowledge for application in the more complex designs of Medical, Higher Education, Museum, and other Specialty buildings. With the more complex designs, though, came a greater involvement by Building Envelope Consultants. Having previously committed to maintaining a high level of technical competence, this new wrinkle was, again, a challenge that Duke Glass was ready for.

Building on the reputation resulting from decades of successful projects and the knowledge base attained, Duke Glass quickly figured out ways to work with consultants towards a common goal of high quality installations across all projects. Although sometimes resulting in the butting of heads, each project served to further develop a mutual respect with other parties and increased information sharing related to the ever-changing concerns and priorities of building designers and owners. This cooperation with consultants and understanding of their role in relation to that of the glazier continues to be a value adding feature associated with Duke Glass’ involvement in projects.

2017 saw an unprecedented Flood event in Houston resulting from Hurricane Harvey, where roughly 40” of rainfall accumulated in less than a week’s time. Homes, businesses, and public buildings alike were affected, with billions of dollars of damage occurring in a very short, but dramatic, time period. As Charles was directly impacted by the flooding of his house, a realization of inevitably greater future needs in the construction industry materialized. As had been seen with recent steady and thorough incorporation of Hurricane Impact Glazing requirements into local building design, a new need could be foreseen.

In 2021, Duke Glass tested and supplied a 100’ wide curtain wall Flood Barrier to the Harris County Courthouse in Downtown Houston, capable of withstanding flood waters at a height of 7’ and immense pressure well beyond the most stringent Hurricane Impact requirements. As has been recently touted to be a priority by Harris County, we believe that flood remediation and damage prevention will be a future necessity. For this, we continue to develop and improve Flood Barrier Glazing products that we believe will, with time, become more commonplace in building design. This is an emerging industry need, for which we have committed to again take the lead in developing.