Monday 29 February 2016

Conservatories of the future

The average floor area in a UK home is the smallest in Europe and over 25% of us are dissatisfied with this lack of space.   

Researches from the University of Cambridge have found that the UK has the smallest homes by floor space with the average new build property offering just 76sq m, compared with almost double that of 137sq m in Denmark. Between 25-33% of us are also dissatisfied with this limitation and so the opportunities for the extended living space market in the UK are considerable.




So with the average floor area of 85sq m for all housing stock decreasing in the UK, there is a clear and defined need for additional living space. The PVCu conservatory offered a cheap solution in its first generation guise, but now new generation products and insulated tiledGarden Rooms have come to the fore which are far more energy efficient and are part of a new genre of extended living space products.


Many 'first' generation conservatories or garden rooms, satisfied consumer demand for a cost effective additional room to the home, These conservatory roofs were often glazed in low cost 16mm polycarbonate sheets and within a couple of years they suffered from discolouration, along with water and insetingress.

So we now find ourselves with a replacement market for these first generation conservatories and a new market for extended living space, which includes the latest insulated, tiled conservatory roofs or Garden rooms. While the online media may well be awash with these new extension solid roof 'type' roofing solutions we firmly believe that the conservatory market will continue to flourish.



Old polycarbonate conservatory roof glazing is being replaced with solar control roof glass that’s packed with technological features including, greater thermal performance,  self cleaning properties and solar control, along with the latest development in glass for conservatory doors and windows. There is a clear distinction here in that the glass specified for the replacement window market is designed with solar heat gain in mind, yet this is the exact opposite of what you want in a conservatory. So it follows that everything apart from the base in which a modern conservatory sits on has changed fundamentally.

The insulated tiled conservatory or Garden Rooms, which have breathed a little more life into what was the conservatory extension market, has been good news for us all and the engineered and market leading GardenRoom roof is available through our network of installers and has been a revelation as a true warm roof. It’s currently the only one in the market that has an insulated eaves, an area where many other solid conservatory roofs have suffered from potential condensation.


Like the first generation conservatories suffered from a technical performance perspective, our research and testing has shown that the same could well happen to some of the lightweight insulated tiled roofs in the marketplace today, consumers should be wary before making their choice and ensure they fully research the tiled conservatory roof on offer. Therefore in years to come we could be experiencing the emergence of the replacement sector for the insulated tiledroof market if consumers are not aware of the differences in products for the extended living space market.