Glass garden room extension with sea views

Properties with a sea view can benefit hugely from a glass garden room extension. This project in Cleethorpes on the east Lincolnshire coast is a great example of how a glazed extension can create additional living space while maximising the views from your home.

Although the property's owners already had some bi-folding doors from their dining kitchen, they were only able to truly appreciate their sea view from the raised patio outside. But this area was uncovered and therefore only usable for a few of months each year when the weather was warm, dry enough and not too windy.

They were therefore looking to add a glass extension to their kitchen that would allow them to enjoy the space and the view all year long.

Glass room extension

We designed and installed a 4.8m wide by 3.5m deep Solarlux Wintergarden glass extension with Highline bi-folding doors to the front and right side and fixed floor-to-ceiling windows on the left side. As a thermally insulated glass structure, the Wintergarden - and the views it offers - can be enjoyed all year round. It also has the added bonus of creating an impressive focal point to the outdoor area and garden!

Sometimes a customer has a little, maybe quirky, requirement that we need to consider when designing our custom-made glass structures. In this case, the homeowners had already ordered a bespoke sofa for the space that they were envisaging - so we had to make sure the internal finished size and layout of the glass structure would be able to accommodate it!

Another aspect of our customer journey that was demonstrated on this project was the benefit of visiting our glass extension display at our premises in Leeds. We have a Solarlux Akzent Plus Wintergarden on display, complete with Cero II sliding door, a three-pane Highline bi-folding door and an SL179 lift-and-slide composite sliding door.

The installation of the glass stucture ran like clockwork due to the thorough planning our team had undertaken. In fact, we managed to complete the job in one week rather than the two that we had anticipated.

The products

A Solarlux Akzent Plus Wintergarden, our most popular glass extension, was the perfect solution for this project. It was fitted with a five-pane Highline bi-folding door to the front and a three-pane Highline bi-folding door to the right side. Both doors open in opposite directions away from each other, effectively creating an open corner for the ultimate inside-outside living space. A low, weather-rated threshold onto the patio allows the space to flow seamlessly and offers maximum accessibility.

The Wintergarden has a sliding roof window, integrated lighting, external awning and solar control glass throughout.

The structure of the Wintergarden is textured and scratch-resistant aluminium, painted in anthracite grey (RAL 7016) matt colour. Because of the seaside location, the aluminium has been pre-anodised to give it extra durability and protection from corrosion due to the coastal environment.

Pre-anodised aluminium for coastal homes

For homes by the sea or in coastal areas where the salt in the air acts as a corrosion agent, pre-anodised metal is a must. Anodisation is an electrochemical process that uses sulphuric acid and a direct electrical current to create a protective oxide coating on the metal's surface. This controlled form of oxidation creates a better quality product that is much stronger, extremely durable and easy to maintain, with superb resistance to corrosion. And because aluminium oxide does not conduct electricity very well, it is great for insulation. Unlike other metals, it can also withstand extremely high temperatures.

The pre-anodisation takes place before powder coating. The aluminium oxide is fully integrated with the aluminium, rather than merely acting as a protective layer, so it won’t chip or peel. It can then be dyed and sealed or is an ideal base on which to apply paint, resulting in a rich, even finish with a lovely, satin sheen that is also scratch-proof. Because it is resistant to rusting, any paint applied is unlikely to flake off. The Solarlux range of paint colours is almost limitless, so you can give your glass extension a unique and bespoke appearance.

And if your property is in a particularly harsh coastal environment, Solarlux offer an extremely high grade protection powder coat finish which can go up to 300 microns; most marine grade paints stop at around 120 microns. This kind of paint is also used by Solarlux for their glazing systems in very tall buildings.

Although not a new technology, pre-anodised aluminium is only just becoming more widely used in the UK, unlike on the continent where it has been used for many years. Solarlux offer this option for all their aluminium frames, including those installed across the UK, and have perfected the pre-anodising process at their factory in Germany.

As well as the benefits that pre-anodised aluminium has on the end products themselves, it also fits with Solarlux's ethos of operating as sustainably as possible and producing eco-friendly glass systems. This is because the manufacture of anodised aluiminium does not produce CO2 or solvent emissions, and the resulting metal is 100 per cent recyclable.