Winter garden

In this original project, an English couple living in a lakefront house in Maidenhead (a small town near Windsor to the west of London) had the idea of building a glass room on the decking terrace on the back of their house, which in turn is connected by steps to a splendid sundeck on the edge of the lake. «We wanted a sun deck cantilevered over the lake, and a glass room to replace half of our decking terrace on the back of the house to give us all-year-round living by the lake. It became apparent that the remaining terrace would also need to be replaced and expanded. Our initial idea was to use a travertine floor in the sun room, so we began looking for a composite decking that would match it,» they explained. For their project they contacted the distributor PrimaPorcelain (Greensquares group), who advised them to choose a travertine-effect porcelain and to use the igarden vision system from Invenire Design, a rugged, high-performance solarium frame. The chosen product was Reverso, an extremely realistic stone-effect porcelain tile from Coem in 60×120 cm and 60×90 cm sizes and a 2 cm thickness complete with surface imperfections and faded graphic effects. It can be installed dry on pedestal supports or using the traditional adhesive method. «The supplier gave us advice on constructing a suitable steel frame. The fact that we wanted extremely heavy (21.5 mm) frameless glass balustrades meant that a very strong structure was required. The ivory colour was a little too reflective for the sunroom so we chose a grey version, whereas it proved ideal for the terrace as this is a more shaded area.» The igarden is built around a lightweight steel-frame system and forms a substructure that is both strong and structurally stable. It is an ideal solution for forming foundations in modern gardens and outdoor surfaces. Once installed, the base is ready to accept a wide range of surface finishes such as porcelain tiles (or composite decking, modern planters, bamboo focal points, mood lighting or a water cascade). This modern garden landscaping system allows for entry to the most difficult of sites. Also there is no need for lifting gear. The frame substructure is seated on support pads and can be adjusted to accommodate any directional falls. Frames can also be constructed directly over an old patio or hard landscaped area without disturbing existing utilities. The result is truly spectacular, surrounded by nature and offering a view of the lake as if suspended above the surface of the water.