A hanging lantern that looks right on a render can arrive on site too small for a double-height portico or too long for a low verandah. The hanging lights range runs from a 9 inch lattice box to a 48 inch lantern, and the size you pick depends on the ceiling it hangs from. This post walks through one sample villa drawing with three hanging positions and shows how we would narrow the 15 catalogue codes down to one per position.
The arithmetic starts from the clearance under the lowest edge of the lantern. Our porch pendant drop note covers that figure and the chain or rod choice. Here we take it as given and spend the space above it.
The sample drawing
The villa in this example has a main door porch with an RCC soffit at 3.0 m, a side verandah 1.5 m deep that runs past four columns with its ceiling at 2.7 m, and a front portico where the slab sits at 5.5 m above the drive. The heights are typical of drawings that reach us, though your own will differ. Swap in your numbers and the method stays the same.
Position 1, main door porch
Soffit at 3.0 m, one lantern over the door
Keep 2.2 m clear from the floor to the bottom of the lantern and you have 800 mm left for the canopy, chain and body. A lantern about 16 inches tall uses roughly half of that, which leaves a comfortable length of chain showing and keeps the fitting in proportion with a standard door.
Four codes sit at that height: PHL 2601 (16 × 8 in, Raw Grey), PHL 2610 and PHL 2615 (both 16 × 7 in, Antique), and PHL 2619 (16 × 7 in, Raw Grey). If the gate pillars already carry an Antique lantern, PHL 2610 or 2615 keeps the entry in one finish.
The 26 inch PHL 2606 would leave about 140 mm above it on this soffit. It belongs on a taller porch.
Position 2, side verandah
Ceiling at 2.7 m, one lantern per bay between four columns
The same 2.2 m clearance leaves only 500 mm here, and the verandah is narrow enough that a wide lantern would crowd anyone walking past with a tray or a suitcase. On a run like this, read the width column as closely as the height.
PHL 2623 is a 9 × 5 in lattice box in Raw Grey, the smallest code in the range. PHL 2624 carries a similar cut pattern in Matte Black at 14 × 5 in. Both stay 5 inches wide (127 mm), so a row of them reads as a line of small lights along the verandah. With four columns the run has three bays, which means three lanterns, or five if the architect also wants one at each end wall.
If the verandah is also the path to a side door, look at where that door falls on the plan. A door that opens between two bays may need its own lantern.
Position 3, double-height portico
Slab at 5.5 m, one large lantern over the drive
A 16 inch lantern on a long chain under a 5.5 m slab looks lost from the gate. This is the position for PHL 2620, listed at 48 × 24 in (1219 × 610 mm) in Raw Grey. It is the only hanging code at that scale, so the choice comes down to whether the portico can take it.
Cars pass under a portico, so the clearance under the lantern should suit the tallest vehicle that will use the drive, which is usually more than the porch figure. The slab also needs a fixing that can carry a lantern of that size, so send the structural detail with the enquiry.
All 15 hanging codes by size
The table sorts the range by the height listed on each product page, with the height given before the width and the millimetre figures taken off each dimension drawing. Use it to find the band that fits your space, then open the product page to look at the casting.
| Code | Size (in) | Size (mm) | Finish | Where it suits on the sample villa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHL 2623 | 9 × 5 | 229 × 127 | Raw Grey | Low verandah bays and covered walkways |
| PHL 2613 | 12 × 8 | 305 × 203 | Antique | A small porch or a service entrance |
| PHL 2611 | 13 × 8 | 330 × 203 | Matte Black | A small porch on a modern elevation |
| PHL 2624 | 14 × 5 | 356 × 127 | Matte Black | Verandah bays where the ceiling allows a longer body |
| PHL 2617 | 15 × 7 | 381 × 178 | Antique | Main door porch |
| PHL 2601 | 16 × 8 | 406 × 203 | Raw Grey | Main door porch |
| PHL 2610 | 16 × 7 | 406 × 178 | Antique | Main door porch |
| PHL 2615 | 16 × 7 | 406 × 178 | Antique | Main door porch |
| PHL 2619 | 16 × 7 | 406 × 178 | Raw Grey | Main door porch |
| PHL 2625 | 18 × 10.5 | 457 × 267 | Matte Black | A wider porch or a pergola where nobody brushes past |
| PHL 2626 | 18 × 10.5 | 457 × 267 | Antique | The same lattice body as 2625 in Antique |
| PHL 2629 | 19 × 6 | 483 × 152 | Antique | A porch with a taller soffit |
| PHL 2607 | 22 × 8 | 559 × 203 | Matte Black | A taller porch or a stair landing |
| PHL 2606 | 26 × 8 | 660 × 203 | Antique | A taller porch or a lobby entrance |
| PHL 2620 | 48 × 24 | 1219 × 610 | Raw Grey | Double-height portico |
PHL 2625 and PHL 2626 share a size and a cut lattice, which helps when the client has not settled on a finish yet. You can carry the same lantern through the drawings and decide between Matte Black and Antique at the sample stage. PHL 2629 is the newest code, listed in the New Collection in the catalogue.
Turning the three positions into one order
The sample villa needs one porch lantern, three to five verandah lanterns and one portico lantern. That is five to seven pieces across three codes. Trade lots start at 10 pieces, so a builder doing several villas on one plot, or a dealer combining the order with other stock, can bring the list up to a trade lot. An order of one to five pieces is charged at the retail list price.
Order every lantern that will be seen together in one lot. A porch lantern and a verandah row finished in the same batch stay closer in tone than pieces ordered a month apart. Say on the order whether you want an empty housing for local glass and LED fitting, or the finished lantern with glass and an LED lamp. The holder is B22 unless the quote says otherwise.
Questions architects ask about hanging lantern size
Does the listed height include the chain?
Read the dimension drawing on the product page, which shows what the height is measured over. If your drop needs more chain than the drawing shows, write the soffit height and the clearance on the enquiry and we will confirm the length in the chat.
Can I use a wall lantern under a low soffit instead?
Yes, when the ceiling is too low for any hanging code. A wall bracket on the side of the door frees the headroom completely. The wall lantern height note covers where to mark it, and the bracket range is on wall lights.
Is a custom size possible for a very tall portico?
A size outside the catalogue needs a physical sample from you and an order of 50 pieces or more. The process is set out in custom replica from a sample. For one portico, PHL 2620 is usually the practical answer.
Sending the drawing
Send the section through each hanging position with the soffit heights marked, the codes you have shortlisted, and the finish. WhatsApp the sheet to +91 70176 62533 and the reply will confirm each code against its ceiling. Every hanging code is also in the 2026 catalogue PDF.
Workshop knowledge for this post comes from Kunal's father Yogendra Varshney and his uncle Dharmendra Varshney at the Aligarh works.