The construction workers took my simple window design and built a quick prototype in about a day:

Acrylic window prototype

Here is a wider view:

I think it looks pretty nice. And it feels rigid and strong enough, too. Any thoughts or opinions?

Now that I like the prototype, we still have to make sure it works okay after mounting it on the hinges. (Currently it is just pushed into the surrounding frame and held in by friction.)

It might be worth mentioning that the reason I decided to try acrylic is that it makes the window construction easier. It can be cut easily, and the wooden reinforcing frame (which also serves a decorative purpose) can be two pieces of wood screwed together with the acrylic sheet sandwiched between. You can’t do that with glass. Additionally, the acrylic itself provides much of the structural integrity since it is a single piece (particularly for sheer forces), so the wooden frame pieces don’t need any special joining to make them strong.

In contrast, glass windows require a high quality frame that won’t come apart over the years and the panes themselves require a glazing process to fit the pieces of glass into the window frame and then hold the glass in place firmly and securely without screwing holes through them.