Most gate light enquiries name one of two finishes, matte black or antique gold. The other two on our list get asked about far less, and they are often the better answer. Of the 93 post-top models on the cast aluminium gate lights page, 22 are listed in Raw Grey and 2 in Green. This note is for the architect or dealer who suspects a grey or green head would sit better on a particular pillar and wants to check that before the drawing is issued. The black and antique gold choice has its own page, antique gold or matte black, and is left out here.
Both finishes are made the same way as the rest of the range. Each head is die-cast in aluminium and then powder coated, and Raw Grey or Green is simply the colour of that coat. Nothing about the metal or the lamp holder changes with the colour.
Start from the pillar surface
A finish is easier to choose once you know what the lantern will be seen against in daylight. Walk out to the road, look back at the gate, and note what the pillar and the wall behind it are made of. The four cases below cover most of what reaches us.
Grey stone cladding or exposed concrete
This is where Raw Grey earns its place. On a pillar clad in grey granite, kota or slate, or left as board-marked concrete, a grey head reads as part of the pillar. A black one reads as an object placed on top of it. Architects who design these elevations usually want the cap and lantern to look like one piece, and the grey gets them there.
The square codes in Raw Grey follow the clean lines of a clad pillar best. PGL 1066 has a pyramid roof over rectangular fretwork, listed at 10 × 11 in and 9 × 8 in. PGL 1099 comes at 11 × 11 in and 9 × 9 in. Three New Collection boxes with cut lattice panels suit a wider cap: PGL 1112 (14 × 18, 12 × 17 and 9.5 × 12 in), PGL 1117 with pointed arches in the lattice (18 × 10.5 and 11.5 × 7.5 in), and PGL 1126 (16 × 10 in).
White, cream or pastel plaster
On a light painted pillar every finish shows up, so the question is how strongly. Black gives the sharpest outline. Raw Grey keeps the shape visible from the road but softens the contrast, which helps on a busy elevation with grilles, nameplates and planters already competing for attention. It also suits a society gate where the guard cabin and boom barrier are already grey.
For a traditional lantern shape in grey, look at PGL 1001, a tapered lantern under a flared roof with a finial (24 × 10, 20 × 8 and 16 × 7 in), PGL 1046, a round body with a finial (30 × 12, 24 × 12 and 18 × 8 in), and PGL 1047 at 21 × 8 in. PGL 1111, a tall pointed lantern on its own base at 19 × 6 in, is in the New Collection.
Red brick or a farmhouse wall in planting
Exposed brick is warm, and grey can look cold against it. Antique usually sits better there. Green is the finish to try when the gate stands among trees and hedges, as at a farmhouse, an orchard plot, a club lawn or a park entrance, because it belongs to the planting around it more than to the masonry.
The two Green gate codes are very different in shape. PGL 1049 is a globe lantern with a finial, 14 × 7 in. PGL 1086 is a wide bell shade over a ribbed glass bowl, 16 × 9 in, which throws its light downward over the gate path more than outward to the road.
Dark stone or a black steel gate
When the pillar is dark and the gate leaf is black steel, a grey head can look faded beside them. Black keeps the set consistent here. Grey helps on this kind of gate only when the cap itself is a lighter stone than the shaft and you want the lantern to match the cap.
The other Raw Grey gate codes
These are listed by size only. Open each product page for the photograph and dimension drawing before shortlisting.
- PGL 1010, 14 × 8 in
- PGL 1017, 17 × 9 in
- PGL 1070, 18 × 8 in
- PGL 1072, 20 × 11 and 14 × 8 in
- PGL 1074, 11 × 9 in
- PGL 1075, 10 × 9 in
- PGL 1076, 22 × 8 in
- PGL 1077, 16 × 7 in
- PGL 1078, 12 × 6 in
- PGL 1083, 15 × 6 in
- PGL 1105, 9.5 × 6 in
- PGL 5033, 15 × 9 in (New Collection)
Whichever code you like, the cap decides the size. A head that is too wide for the seat looks wrong in any colour, and the tape method is in pillar lantern size.
Carrying the same finish past the gate
A grey gate head looks deliberate when the fittings seen with it from the road share the colour. The wall range has 11 Raw Grey codes, among them PWL 2802 (17 × 9 and 13 × 5 in), PWL 2805 (18 × 9 in) and PWL 2810 (14 × 7 in), so the boundary wall on either side of the gate can match. For a drive or lawn inside, PPL 5016 is a Raw Grey post at 84 × 12 in, and path lighting at a lower height is covered in jaali bollard lights. A porch at the end of the drive can take PHL 2601 (16 × 8 in) or one of the other three Raw Grey hanging codes on hanging lights.
Green carries on in the same way. PWL 2550 is the Green wall lantern, at 13 × 7 in. For a park or a long lawn, PPL 5001A (80 × 11 in), PPL 5009 (72 × 12 in) and PPL 5013 (48 × 8 in) are the Green posts. Spacing them 6 to 10 m apart along a path is a common starting point.
Before the order is packed
- Write the finish as it appears on the site, "Raw Grey" or "Green", on the same line as each code. A note that just says "grey" can be read as a primer colour, and "dark green" may be a shade we do not coat.
- Check every code against the product page. Each one is listed in a single finish. If you want a code that is listed in black in grey instead, ask the trade desk before you put it on a drawing, and do not assume the answer.
- Keep both pillar heads, and any wall lanterns beside them, on one order, so they are checked and dispatched together.
- Mark each line as a bare housing your electrician will glaze and wire, or as a finished lantern supplied with glass and LED, and expect a B22 holder by default. Housing or complete lantern compares the two.
A pair of gate heads with matching wall lanterns often comes close to 10 pieces, the point at which trade lots start. Below that the order is billed at retail list. Prices and freight are explained on shipping and the works terms on About.
Sending the enquiry
A daylight photograph of the pillar taken from the road tells us more about finish than any description. Send it with the cap width, the codes you have shortlisted, the finish for each, and the city the lot goes to, on WhatsApp at +91 70176 62533. You will find every code named here in the 2026 catalogue PDF as well.
Yogendra, Kunal's father, and Dharmendra, his uncle, shared the finish advice in this note.