Installation of the year
The fizz was flowing as the great and the good from the industry gathered to celebrate the second Atlas Installation of the Year awards. Glass Times reports.
It was a spectacular evening during which Stamford-based installer QKS Home Improvements walked away with first prize for a show-stopping double Atlas lantern installation on a period property in a Georgian Lincolnshire town.
The owners of the detached limestone-built property, which overlooks the historic town of Stamford and was once owned by a milliner, approached QKS Home Improvements to help them replace their unsightly and leaking timber conservatory.
With their daughter’s wedding reception due to take place at their home, the couple wanted to create an impressive and welcoming space for guests to mingle. It was important however that the new extension could be used throughout the year as the original conservatory was completely unusable during the colder months.
QKS designed a spacious 9m x 5m orangery, which would link to the drawing room and sitting room to open up the interior of the house and create a generous sense of space. The design incorporated lots of glazing and not one, but two, lanterns to reinforce the link between the interior and the exterior. Although the rest of the windows in the property were timber, QKS suggested slimmer aluminium frames for the extension to create a sleek, modern look that would not jar with the period of the property.
After reviewing a number of different glazed roof systems, the client chose the Atlas lantern because its ultra-slim profile would help to maximise the amount of glazing and fill the new space with light. Its thermal characteristics would help to make the new orangery far warmer than the former conservatory so it could be used all through the year.
The Atlas roof brings contemporary style and slim sightlines to enhance the views above. Its strong, light 40mm aluminium frame rafters create slim, elegant roof profiles.
The new orangery is built from locally sourced limestone and sympathetically blends with the rest of the property. Leading off two rooms, it has created an impressive entertaining space and has totally transformed the flow of the house.
The new orangery features two 3.7m x 2.5m Atlas lanterns, which are white on the inside and iron grey (RAL 7032) on the outside to match the Sarnafil flat roof. To enhance performance and minimise maintenance, the lanterns incorporate neutral solar control, self-cleaning glass. QKS also installed underfloor heating to provide discreet heating for the room.
Installed in just two days, the Atlas lanterns were positioned to take advantage of the southerly aspect and draw light into the ground floor. Aluminium windows and French doors in pebble grey – supplied by Atlas’s sister company Customade – open on to a garden that was landscaped by QKS as part of the 16-week project. QKS also installed perimeter high level and low level lighting to illuminate the garden at night.
Nick Clipston, managing director at QKS, said: “This project married great design with superb building materials to create a truly fantastic orangery. Our client is thrilled with the new extension and it totally exceeded all their expectations. The orangery is such a vast improvement on the original conservatory and it was brought in on time and within budget. That was very important to this couple as they were planning a wedding. The new extension really has improved their home and given them an amazing space, which they can use every day, whatever the weather.”
“This project really has the wow factor,” Glass Times editor and a competition judge Nathan Bushell said. “The twin lanterns look gorgeous together, and the doors and windows of the orangery match those of the house. The whole project sits comfortably in its surroundings, and really brings the outside in.
“Despite the high quality of all the entries, QKS is a deserved winner of the second Atlas Installation of the Year award.”
Glass Times will be covering the full Atlas awards gala evening in the next issue.
