design et al are delighted to announce that IQ Glass have been shortlisted for Regeneration / Restoration Award in The International Design & Architecture Awards 2019.
The brief was to help the homeowners take advantage of their outstanding views across the Misbourne Valley set in the Buckinghamshire countryside. They had recently purchased the large 1980’s family home, on the sloping site, in an excellent condition. However, they felt that the property could be better connected with the beautiful rural surroundings that this area of Buckinghamshire is so well known for. Poorly designed extensions, previously constructed, were obstructing the homeowners dream of a flowing home layout that also flowed smoothly into the garden and surrounding landscape. The existing home felt very disconnected from the surrounding countryside, and therefore the homeowners wanted to rekindle this relationship with the landscape.
Along with the main home renovation, the home owners were also keen to have garden room extension that linked to the house to create an enhanced indoor-outdoor living space surrounded by swooping trees. The garden room was to include large minimalistic glazing installations that not only offered uninterrupted views of the Buckinghamshire countryside but also gave the illusion that the room was seamlessly connected to the garden.
The clients wanted to open up the house to the countryside while renovating the internal living spaces into a more open-plan layout, so the outstanding views can be enjoyed through wide panoramic glazing installations. The homeowners wanted to enjoy the beautiful views from both the ground floor level and the first floor, therefore they wanted to maximise the amount of glazing used within the project to take full advantage of these views. IQ Glass’ favourite aspect of this project is the symmetry of the two Sieger® double casement doors on the top floor and the two 3-track minimal windows® sliding doors on the ground floor, divided by the illuminated stairs, all reflected by the swimming pool below.
The design of this project not only allows light to feed into all aspects of the internal living spaces but also offers the homeowners a deeper connection to the surrounding Buckinghamshire countryside, this unique home combines traditional exposed wooden beams with exceptional modern glazing systems creating an overall ‘wow factor’. Set within a rural valley, the home is enveloped with large trees, shrubbery continues from the base of the trees through into the garden. The wooden cladding used within the architectural design and wooden beams that surround the raised plant beds help to connect the property with the rural surroundings.
Photography courtesy: Stuartbarr CDR