Winter gardens are growing in popularity and serve both a visual and a practical purpose. For many homeowners a winter garden on the terrace is the ideal solution, giving extra space and contact with the surroundings.
What is a winter garden? It is a glazed room — usually a terrace joined along one wall to the body of the house. A winter garden can be used all year round, though without heating it may be seasonal. A well-designed structure works even in a cool climate, protecting against unfavourable weather.
Here is what to keep in mind when designing a winter garden on a terrace, and which position works best. See how you can make use of the space available, gaining further usable rooms on your property and a welcoming place to relax.
A winter garden — enclosing a terrace
An all-year winter garden works in cool months and warm ones alike. Gain extra usable space and match the look of the winter garden to the rest of the house.
Why is it worth it? Many people decide to build a winter garden for the additional usable floor area. Another factor is that fully enclosing a terrace protects the house against heat loss in winter, which translates into lower bills. Those are the two greatest advantages of winter gardens — here are the rest. A winter garden also creates a space that is ideal for relaxing and spending time with those close to you, surrounded by light and close to nature.
Advantages of a winter garden:
- it improves the energy balance of the building (reducing running costs),
- in winter it protects the building from the cold,
- all year round it acts as a barrier against noise,
- it increases the usable space of the house,
- it makes the building look more attractive,
- it can bring daylight into selected rooms thanks to the amount of sunlight,
- it is an excellent place to relax and an ideal all-year leisure space.
Enclosing a terrace — a winter garden
Does a conservatory need planning permission?
In England a conservatory counts as an extension, and one can usually be built under permitted development if it stays within the limits for a single-storey rear extension:
- it projects no more than 3 m beyond the rear wall of a terraced or semi-detached house, or 4 m for a detached house — extendable to 6 m and 8 m respectively through the prior approval process;
- maximum height 4 m, and no more than 3 m at the eaves where it stands within 2 m of a boundary;
- it does not extend beyond a side elevation fronting a highway;
- together with other extensions it covers no more than 50% of the land around the original house.
Building Regulations are a separate question. A conservatory is generally exempt if it is at ground level, under 30 m², separated from the house by external-quality doors or windows, glazed in compliance with Part K, and any heating has its own independent controls. Take away any one of those and the exemption goes with it.
Listed buildings, conservation areas and Article 4 directions restrict these rights, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own limits.
Worth confirming with your local planning authority before ordering — it costs nothing and settles the question.
A winter garden is worth designing while the house is being built, but if the owners decide on a conservatory only later, there is nothing to stop them. A winter terrace like this can be matched to an existing building and glazed according to individual needs.
An all-year winter garden comes in several forms — as a terrace canopy that follows the shape of the building, or as a free-standing structure. In that case the required distances from the plot boundary have to be observed.
Glass winter gardens
A glazed winter garden calls for a solid structure. We suggest a terrace canopy in aluminium profiles, which resist damage and the effects of the weather.
Choosing the glass roof is an important part of it: it delivers plenty of sunlight and integrates the space beautifully with its surroundings. The glazing should have good insulating properties, so that the winter garden does not heat up too quickly in summer or lose heat in winter. That is a significant difference compared with single-glazed structures.
A winter garden on a terrace needs a special setting, so it is worth thinking about lanterns, blankets, cushions and rugs as well — all of it makes the time spent there more pleasant. A glazed terrace enclosure can be heated (with underfloor heating, air conditioning or radiant heaters), which makes it usable at any time of year.
A winter terrace is also excellent for storing house plants during their dormant period. It works as a conservatory and allows rare exotic plants to be grown.
A warm winter garden versus a cold one
A cold winter garden is a place that works excellently as a relaxation area in the summer months, but in winter turns into a conservatory ideally suited to storing house and terrace plants while they are dormant. A winter garden of this type is far cheaper to build.
A warm winter garden (an all-year winter garden) is used throughout the year. Building one is a considerable investment, because it requires heating to be installed. Even so, most people choose a leisure space of this kind.
And which winter garden appeals to you most? What should it do? Winter gardens on terraces are more and more popular. Will you go for a transformation like this?