 The project was engineered by Sir William Cubitt; Paxton's construction partner was the ironwork contractor Sir Charles Fox's Fox and Henderson, whose director Charles Fox was also knighted for his contribution.The 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2) of glass was provided by the Chance Brothers glassworks in Smethwick.They were the only glassworks capable of fulfilling such a large order and had to bring in labour from France to meet it in time.