Stage One: Let the Architect Establish the Architectural Intent There is such a thing as involving a glazing specialist too early. At the beginning of a project, the most important questions are not usually about frame systems, glass specifications or individual products. They are about architecture. How should the home relate to its surroundings? Which […]
Tag Archives: Sliding Doors
24
Aug
Aug
Tell Your Architect How You Want to Live—Not Just What You Want It to Look Like Most homeowners begin a project with images. A photograph of a glass-box extension. A minimal sliding elevation disappearing into a garden. A picture window framing open countryside. These references are useful. They help an architect understand the visual language […]
24
Aug
Aug
“I Want More Glass” Is Not Yet a Design Brief It is easy to understand why homeowners ask for more glass. Large panes can bring daylight deep into a room, open views towards the landscape and create the sense that the garden has become part of the interior. But “I want as much glass as […]
24
Aug
Aug
First Decide What You Are Actually Trying to Shade When a glazed room becomes uncomfortable, the instinctive response is often: “We need some shading.” But that is not yet a complete design brief. Before choosing blinds, screens, overhangs or a different glass specification, establish exactly what problem the shading is supposed to solve. There are […]
21
Aug
Aug
Privacy Through Glass Changes Between Day and Night A glazed room can feel surprisingly private during the day. Then darkness falls, the lights come on, and the relationship can change completely. This happens because privacy through glass depends heavily on the relative brightness on either side of it. During daylight, the outside environment is often […]
21
Aug
Aug
The Two Acoustic Problems People Commonly Confuse When somebody says they want a room to be “quieter”, they may actually be describing two completely different acoustic problems. The first is sound insulation: stopping unwanted noise from travelling through the building envelope. Think of a bedroom overlooking a busy road, a home close to a railway […]
19
Aug
Aug
What Is Acoustic Laminated Glass? Acoustic laminated glass is designed to reduce the transmission of sound through glazing more effectively than a conventional glass construction selected without a specific acoustic objective. Like other laminated glass, it consists of two or more glass plies bonded together with an interlayer. In an acoustic laminate, a specialist interlayer […]
18
Aug
Aug
What Solar Control Glass Actually Does Solar control glass is designed to reduce the amount of solar energy passing through the glazing and contributing to heat inside the building. That becomes particularly relevant where architecture uses large areas of glass to bring in daylight, open up views and create a stronger connection with the landscape. […]
18
Aug
Aug
Where the Green Colour in Glass Comes From Glass is transparent, but that does not mean it is completely colourless. Standard clear architectural glass naturally has a subtle green appearance, and the main reason is the small amount of iron present within the raw materials used to manufacture it. For most conventional windows, this colour […]
18
Aug
Aug
The Fundamental Difference: What Happens When the Glass Breaks? The clearest way to understand the difference between toughened and laminated glass is not simply to ask which one is stronger. It is to ask a more useful question: what happens if the glass actually breaks? Toughened glass has undergone a controlled heat-treatment process that changes […]
17
Aug
Aug
What Does “Tolerance” Actually Mean in Glazing? In architectural glazing, tolerance describes the dimensional variation that needs to be anticipated when different parts of a building come together. A drawing may show an opening with precise dimensions and perfectly straight lines, but the physical building is assembled from structural steel, masonry, concrete, timber, finishes and […]
17
Aug
Aug
What Does Deflection Actually Mean? Deflection is the term used to describe the movement or bending of a structural element when it is subjected to load. A steel beam spanning above a large sliding-door opening may appear completely rigid, but in structural terms it is not necessarily motionless. As loads are applied, a degree of […]
14
Aug
Aug
A Structural Opening Is Not Just a Hole for the Glass One of the most common misconceptions with large-format glazing is that the structure can be designed first and the glass simply made to fit the opening afterwards. At a basic level, that sounds reasonable: the engineer establishes a structurally suitable opening, the steelwork is […]
14
Aug
Aug
A Corner Is Not Just Something That Gets in the Way of the View When designing a highly glazed extension or contemporary home, it is easy to see the corner as an obstruction. Two large areas of glass might offer an uninterrupted view of the garden or landscape, only for a vertical post at their […]
14
Aug
Aug
What Does “Corner Glazing Without a Post” Actually Mean? One of the most common misconceptions around postless corner glazing is that the corner is somehow constructed without a frame or supporting structure. In reality, “postless” usually describes what we see rather than everything that is happening within the construction. A conventional glazed corner typically uses […]
24
Jul
Jul
Window Planning Starts Before Planning Permission One of the most common misconceptions in self-build projects is that windows can be chosen once the structure has been designed or, worse still, once construction is already underway. Architects rarely work this way. Long before planning permission is submitted, glazing is already helping to shape the architecture. Decisions […]
24
Jul
Jul
The Biggest Glazing Decision Is Where It Goes When homeowners begin planning an extension, the conversation about glazing often starts with products. Should the project include sliding doors, bifold doors or fixed glass? Which frame material is best? How large can the panes be? While these are important questions, architects rarely begin there. They know […]
09
Jul
Jul
Understanding What Each Door Is Designed to Do Comparing sliding, bifold and French doors often begins with a simple question: Which one is best? Architects tend to ask a different question altogether: What is the door trying to achieve? This shift in perspective is important because each system has been developed to solve a different […]
05
Jul
Jul
Why This Isn’t Really About Doors When homeowners begin comparing sliding and bifold doors, the conversation often centres on product features. How wide do they open? Which is more energy efficient? Which costs less? While these are perfectly reasonable questions, they are not the ones architects ask first. Before considering opening mechanisms or frame profiles, […]
30
Jun
Jun
Section 1: Measurements Come Last—Architecture Comes First When homeowners hear the phrase “made-to-measure glazing”, the first thing that often comes to mind is a tape measure. The assumption is understandable. If windows or doors are being manufactured specifically for a property, then accurate dimensions must surely be the starting point. In reality, architects approach bespoke […]
29
Jun
Jun
Section 1: Start With How You Want to Live, Not Which Door Looks Better The conversation surrounding bifold and sliding doors often begins with appearance. Homeowners compare frame profiles, opening styles and photographs of completed projects, hoping one system will clearly emerge as the superior choice. Architects, however, usually begin somewhere entirely different. Before discussing […]
24
Jun
Jun
Why Bifold Doors Became The Default Choice There was a time when bifold doors were considered a premium architectural feature. They appeared on ambitious self-build projects, high-end extensions and television programmes showcasing contemporary design. Large glazed openings that folded neatly away felt innovative, aspirational and distinctly modern. Today, bifold doors are so common that many […]
22
Jun
Jun
Most People Are Buying The View, Not The Frame When homeowners begin researching slimline windows and doors, much of the conversation revolves around frame dimensions. Manufacturers highlight ever-smaller sightlines, product brochures focus on millimetre reductions and marketing imagery often celebrates the apparent disappearance of the frame altogether. Yet when most people stand in front of […]