1. Begin with the rooms you want to create Spring can make a renovation feel newly possible. Longer days reveal the garden again, and an extension imagined through winter begins to seem tangible. It is tempting to begin with photographs of broad sliding doors or a roof lantern. A more useful first drawing shows how […]
Tag Archives: window proportions
06
Oct
Oct
What a Glazing Designer Would Change About Your House Without seeing a house, no one can responsibly prescribe new windows for it. A glazing designer can, however, describe the questions that reveal where change would matter most—and where it would be a mistake. 1. Survey what the house already does well The first task is […]
06
Oct
Oct
1. Ask what problem the admired house solved An architectural photograph presents a result. It seldom shows the brief that produced it: a narrow site, a dark original room, a neighbour’s close window or a family that needed several ways to occupy one space. Without that context, copying the visible feature can bring the wrong […]
05
Oct
Oct
1. The rule is to look beyond the window A window can look elegant in a showroom and awkward once placed in a house. Its frame may be well made, its glass carefully specified and its dimensions entirely ordinary. What fails is the relationship between that rectangle and the building around it. Proportion is often […]
05
Oct
Oct
1. Read the house before changing it Every house offers clues about how it wants to be altered. Its plan may organise rooms around a central hall. Windows may establish a measured pattern on the street elevation. A later addition may have become valuable in its own right. Before drawing new openings or choosing finishes, […]
01
Oct
Oct
1. Design the opening before naming the product A window is part of a wall before it is a product. Its width and height affect the balance of an elevation, the amount of daylight reaching a room and the view from a particular seat. A glazed door also determines how people move between spaces. Those […]
15
Sep
Sep
The Problem Isn’t Black Frames. It’s the Formula Black window frames are an obvious candidate whenever the conversation turns to design trends that might eventually date. They have become one of the most recognisable features of contemporary residential architecture, often appearing alongside large panes of glass, restrained materials and dark external detailing. But black frames […]
15
Sep
Sep
Matching Feels Like the Safest Design Decision There is an understandable comfort in deciding that every window in a house should match. Choose one style, repeat the proportions and maintain the same visual language throughout. The result should, in theory, feel ordered and coherent. Sometimes it does. Repetition is one of architecture’s most useful tools. […]
14
Sep
Sep
We Became Obsessed With Making Windows Disappear Contemporary residential architecture has become remarkably good at making glass feel almost absent. Panes have grown larger, frames have become visually quieter and fixed glazing can create the impression that the building simply stops where the landscape begins. Used well, the effect can be exceptional. It is easy […]
23
Jul
Jul
Sympathy Begins With Understanding the Building The word sympathetic is used frequently in discussions about period homes, yet it is often misunderstood. Many homeowners assume it simply describes a window that looks traditional, perhaps with glazing bars, timber frames or historic detailing. Architects use the term rather differently. For them, a sympathetic window is not […]
22
Jul
Jul
“Like-for-Like” Means More Than Copying the Original Few phrases are used more frequently during period home renovations than like-for-like replacement, yet few are as widely misunderstood. Many homeowners assume it simply means installing a new window that looks exactly like the one being removed. While appearance certainly matters, architects tend to view the concept in […]