A laser-cut bronze stainless steel screen is one of those elements that can define a hotel lobby or a villa entryway, but it is also one of the easiest items to get wrong. The pattern looks beautiful on a reference photo, yet the delivered panels arrive the wrong size, the bronze tone does not match the lift doors, or the wall cannot carry the weight. Almost all of that can be avoided before the first quotation is requested. This guide walks through what to collect about the opening, the pattern, the finish and the surrounding scope, so a supplier such as SANTERSON can quote accurately the first time rather than after three rounds of corrections.

1. Know where the screen is going and what it has to do

Before anything else, write down the job the screen is being asked to perform. A decorative screen in a hotel lobby and a screen dividing a villa dining area from a lounge are not the same product. Decide which of these applies to your opening:

• Purely decorative screening across a feature wall, where nothing structural is expected of the panel.
• A space divider that creates visual privacy while still letting light and air pass through, for example between reception and lounge.
• A backdrop behind a reception desk, bar counter or stair, where the screen will be read against lighting and reflective finishes.

Then check what the screen sits against. A masonry wall, a plasterboard partition, a glass wall and a free-standing floor-to-ceiling frame each need a different fixing detail, and a supplier who knows the substrate can design the panel edge and support accordingly. If the screen is part of a wider fit-out, decide at this stage whether the same supplier should also provide the neighbouring finishes, since a wall panel system and a decorative screen installed by different trades rarely line up cleanly at the reveal.

2. Measure the opening properly, and be honest about the tolerances

The single most common cause of a rejected screen is a measurement taken from a drawing rather than from the finished room. Provide the supplier with the width and height of the opening measured at the finished surface level, in millimetres, and state clearly whether the dimensions are to the structural opening or to the finished face of the surrounding wall and floor.

Along with the overall size, note the following:

• Whether the screen runs floor to ceiling, or stops short, and the exact height of any skirting, cornice or shadow gap it must clear.
• Obstructions: sockets, switches, data points, sprinkler heads, wall lights, handrails or door handles that fall inside the panel area.
• Whether the wall is plumb and square. If it is not, say so and give the deviation, because the panel layout has to absorb it.
• The number of panels you expect and where vertical joints may fall, especially relative to the room's main sight lines.

Our bronze stainless steel screen is fabricated to the dimensions supplied, with panel count, size, pattern and finish all set to order, so precise numbers on your side are what make the quotation meaningful rather than indicative.

3. Bring the pattern, not just an adjective

"Geometric", "modern" and "luxury" are not specifications. What a fabricator needs is artwork that can actually be cut. Any of the following works well:

• A vector drawing (AI, EPS, DXF or SVG) with the motif drawn at a known size, so the repeat scale is unambiguous.
• A photograph or reference image of a screen you like, with a rough idea of how large one repeat of the motif appears in that picture.
• A hand sketch with dimensions, if the design is yours — this is often clearer than a pretty render, because it shows what you actually want repeated.

Also decide how the pattern behaves across the panel. A motif that runs continuously from one panel to the next looks seamless but costs more in cutting time and material than one that repeats inside each panel with a clean border. If the screen sits behind a reception desk where a logo or an address is part of the composition, flag that early; lettering cut into metal needs the typeface supplied as vector artwork, and small counters inside letters set a floor on how fine the cut can be.

Send a reference rather than a description whenever you can. The same is true across the rest of our product range: a drawing, a photo or a sample gets a far more accurate answer than a paragraph of adjectives.

4. Specify the bronze you mean

"Bronze" covers a lot of ground, and stainless steel with a bronze-toned surface comes in several quite different looks. When you brief a supplier, describe the finish in terms of colour depth and surface reflectivity:

• Antique or aged bronze, warm and low in reflectivity, which hides fingerprints and reads well in softer lobby lighting.
• Brighter gold-bronze tones, closer to brass, which pick up light and work against pale stone and glass.
• A mirror or polished surface versus a brushed or matte one — this changes how the screen behaves under downlights and how visible handling marks will be after a year of use.

Two practical questions to settle at briefing stage: will the screen be touched by guests, and is it in direct sunlight? High-traffic and high-sun locations point towards more forgiving finishes and a surface treatment that can be cleaned with ordinary maintenance. If you are coordinating the screen with other metalwork — lift portals, handrails, door furniture, a bar surround — send photographs of those finishes as well. Bronze against bronze can clash badly when the tones come from different sources, and this is the detail most often discovered too late.

5. Decide how the screen will be supported and installed

A multi-panel screen spanning a wide wall is usually delivered as several panels with a frame or fixing detail at the edges, not as one piece. That is a feature, not a limitation, but it needs planning. Tell the supplier:

• How high the screen goes and whether it is braced at the top, at the bottom, or both.
• Whether access is needed behind the screen for maintenance, and whether any panel should be removable.
• Who is doing the installation: your joiner, the main contractor, or the supplier's team. Fixing methods differ, and this determines whether the panels ship with brackets, a sub-frame, or both.

If your scope also includes on-site fitting and snagging, say so when you enquire. SANTERSON's installation and after-sales support service covers fitting, inspection and follow-up, which is worth arranging at the quotation stage rather than after delivery, because the packing and panel sequence are planned around how the screens go in.

6. Get the logistics information straight

Custom metal screens are oversized, and oversized freight is where projects lose time. Have these ready before you ask for a price:

• The delivery address, and whether the goods go to the project site or to a consolidation point.
• The date the screens must be on site, working backwards from when the wall finish around them is complete.
• Whether the site can receive long panels — lift size, stair width, or a loading bay that a tall crate can turn in.

Our logistics and door-to-door delivery service handles freight arrangements, packaging and container loading, and the paperwork that goes with an import, so a supplier can plan the panel split around what will actually fit through the building. The longest screen that looks best on a drawing is not always the longest screen that fits in a lift.

7. Ask the supplier the right questions back

A competent custom metalwork supplier will not simply send a price. Prepare to receive, and to check, the following:

• A panel layout drawing showing joint positions, pattern alignment across joints, and how edges are finished.
• A physical finish sample or a clearly identified finish reference, not just a colour name.
• The fixing detail for your particular wall type, and what your contractor is expected to prepare.
• What happens to panels damaged in transit or on site, and how spares are ordered — a screen cut to a pattern cannot be patched with a generic offcut.

If a quotation comes back with a price and nothing else, treat it as incomplete. The drawing and the finish sample are the deliverables that protect the installation.

A short checklist to send with your enquiry

Copy this into your email and the first reply will already be close to final:

• Project location, room type, and the role of the screen (decoration, division, backdrop).
• Opening width and height to finished surfaces, in millimetres, plus wall type and any out-of-plumb deviation.
• Panel count you prefer, and where joints are acceptable.
• Pattern artwork (vector) or a reference image with the intended motif size.
• Bronze tone and surface: antique, gold, brushed, or polished, plus the finishes it must sit beside.
• Required on-site date, delivery address, and access constraints for long panels.
• Who installs, and whether you need fitting and snagging included.

Bring those seven items and a custom screen enquiry turns into a straightforward production decision rather than a design argument. Send us the drawings and the reference photographs, and we will return a panel layout, a finish reference and an itemised quotation you can put in front of the client.

Talk to PHILLIP at SANTERSON — Phone / WhatsApp +86-13928214007, email santerson@qq.com — or use our contact page to send drawings, photographs and dimensions for a written quotation.