Georgian Conservatories

The History of Georgian Conservatories

Homes built during the Georgian period (1714-1830) are characterised by rows of large symmetrical single windows, often sliding sash windows in a “six-over-six” pane configuration. They often have large grand frontages with dormer windows, and front doors with pillared porches or sometimes with ornate curved windows above them. As the Georgian era covered a period of over 100 years, styles changed and developed within that time, so it is difficult to point to any one building and claim that it is the epitome of Georgian style, however Georgian buildings tend to be grand affairs with extra detailing touches, and the same can be said of Georgian conservatories.

A Georgian conservatory will often feature decorative elements such as curved glazing bars, enhanced pilasters, large cornices and corbelling and more. In the Georgian era it was not possible to make large sheets of clear, high quality glass, so windows made at this time featured smaller individual panes, glazed into windows with glazing bars – this is where the common “grid” glazing bar designs we see today come from. Conservatories of the day generally followed a square or rectangular shape, and often had a gabled front end, however the ornate and decorative style lends itself well to a number of more intricate designs such as “break-fronted” conservatories which have a gable taking up a portion of the roof, with the rest essentially being a “lean-to” design, with roof valleys joining the two together.

We can incorporate all of the details listed above and more. As well as these traditional design elements, all of our windows and doors are truly modern in terms of their features – they have multi-point high-security locking, thermally efficient double-glazing, fully adjustable hinges and a modern water-based microporous paint finish. All of our products come double-glazed as standard, with Low-E coatings and Argon gas filling for excellent thermal efficiency. We can also incorporate glass with modern coatings which reduce the need for cleaning the glass or filter out much of the UV light and heat from sunlight to make sure your conservatory is a comfortable space even in the summer.