Here’s what the arch looks like today:
Under those 8 inches of snow you would see a roof. The roof itself is made from a red ‘coroline’ bituminous sheet from B&Q. It supported by the frame that you could see in the previous blog post; the support isn’t designed to hold much weight but it seems to be doing ok with the snow. And overall has a bit of a chinese feel to it.
The mirrors were the secret part of the garden. Two ikea mirrors that we had in the kitchen. The idea is that it should look as though its a gateway into another garden. What you are actually seeing is the one bit of orange on my kayak that isn’t covered in snow.
edit: I suppose I should mention a bit more about the mirrors. They are regular mirrors and not any fancy protected garden mirror. Behind them is a wooden frame so that the mirrors are not right against the concrete. They are held in place by a pieces of wood in front of them at the top and bottom (the top one is visible above). Then the edges and the wood holding them in place are filled with silicone. That should, in theory, allow the mirrors & wood to move a little with temperature variations to stop them cracking and also give them a bit of protection from rain. So far its worked well, no signs of moisture damage or cracks and its quiet even on stormy nights.