I was fortunate enough to work with many friends and trusted tradespeople on the build, but I also needed to find new tradespeople for some expert jobs. For example, glazing.
Max’s design indicated positions for windows, sliding door and roof lights, but I needed to specify them, choose the sizes and find a supplier.
I let the window and doors sizes be led by structure: I asked Mick how big the piers needed to be to support everything and then made the glass between them as big as possible. I did away with a small, high-up window on the side wall and instead focussed on maximising the size of the others. I made the window the same height as the doors, reaching all the way down to the floor, so the benches at the back of the room had a great view of the garden.
The roof lights were chosen to be large but affordable and to look evenly spaced across the ceiling. For this, I resorted to quadratic equations from my A-level maths days. I opted for fixed glass rather more expensive units that you can open – if the room overheats, I’ll open the back door.
I chose black aluminium frames. Of the three stock colours, grey was ubiquitous and white looked cheap and would show up dirt, but black would frame the view of the garden nicely and the fittings (brushes, trickle vents, etc) would pretty much disappear.
I got quotes from several companies and plumped for local supplier MB Glass, who were keenly priced but not the very cheapest. They’d been personally recommended. They really knew their stuff, carefully measured on site and took charge of fitting a few weeks later.
