Orangeries

Turning Ideas into Plans

For many homeowners, the idea of a conservatory begins with a vision — a light-filled dining room, a relaxing garden lounge, or perhaps a bright and inspiring home office. With a bespoke design, those ideas can be turned into a space that is perfectly suited to your home and lifestyle.

At R&M Windows and Conservatories, we specialise in transforming these visions into reality. From the first conversation to the final installation, our process is built around your requirements, ensuring the finished conservatory reflects exactly what you imagined.

A Personalised Consultation

The journey begins with a free consultation. This is where we listen carefully to your ideas, explore how you want to use the space, and look at the architectural details of your property. By understanding your lifestyle as well as your home, we can suggest design options that make the most of both.

Whether you are in a compact Bracknell townhouse or a detached property in Windsor, this stage ensures that every aspect of the design is tailored to your needs.

Creating Scaled Designs

Once we understand your vision, we provide a detailed quotation that includes scaled drawings. These help you see exactly how the conservatory will look and fit with your property. For homeowners in Ascot or Wokingham, this is often the stage where ideas become tangible, showing how the conservatory will transform the rear of the home and connect with the garden.

This visualisation allows adjustments to be made before work begins, ensuring the design is precisely what you want.

Customising Every Detail

One of the greatest advantages of a bespoke conservatory is the ability to customise every element. From the roof style and glazing to the choice of frame materials and colours, the possibilities are wide-ranging.

Some homeowners choose a traditional look with ornate detailing, while others opt for sleek aluminium frames and minimalist finishes. Practical features such as solar control glass, underfloor heating or integrated lighting can also be included to ensure year-round comfort.

Precision Surveys for a Perfect Fit

Before installation, a full survey is carried out to ensure every measurement is precise. This is especially important for bespoke designs, where the conservatory may need to work around unusual angles, existing extensions or architectural features.

By taking exact measurements, we ensure the structure fits seamlessly with the property, preventing issues and delivering the polished finish that sets a bespoke conservatory apart.

Installation with Care

The installation process is where the vision truly comes to life. At R&M, our MTC-accredited installers bring decades of experience to every project. Their technical competence ensures the structure is built to the highest standards, while their attention to detail guarantees a flawless finish.

We take care to minimise disruption throughout the installation, keeping homeowners informed at every stage. By the time the work is complete, the conservatory feels less like a new addition and more like a natural extension of the home.

Guaranteed Quality for Peace of Mind

Every bespoke conservatory installed by R&M comes with a ten-year guarantee. This commitment to quality means that homeowners can enjoy their new space with complete confidence, knowing it has been built to last.

With more than thirty years of experience working in Bracknell, Windsor and the wider Berkshire area, we have built a reputation for combining craftsmanship with customer care. Our bespoke conservatories reflect not just the individuality of each home, but also the trust placed in us by our customers.

Bringing Your Dream to Life

Designing a bespoke conservatory is about more than adding an extra room. It is about creating a space that reflects your vision and enhances the way you live. From the first idea to the final installation, R&M Windows and Conservatories are here to guide you through the process and ensure the finished result is everything you imagined.

For homeowners in Bracknell, Ascot, Wokingham and beyond, a bespoke conservatory represents the opportunity to turn a dream into reality. With our expertise, your new space will be as individual as your home itself.

Of all the questions that people looking to extend their home put to us, perhaps the most popular concerns the difference between an orangery and a conservatory, and we’re asked about this very often.

It’s understandable that the two home improvements are frequently confused, since both are popular types of home extensions. Yet there are some key differences between them, which we’ll outline in this article. First, let’s look at what each one actually is.

What Is An Orangery?

An orangery is usually described as a structure with large glazed doors and windows and brick pillars, plus a flat roof with a glass lantern. The base is typically made from brick, while the roof is generally more than 75% glass.

These structures first became popular in the seventeenth century, first emerging in countries including France, Germany and Holland. But they originated in Italian Renaissance gardens, as glass-making technology developed to allow large enough glazed areas to be made en masse.

In England, these traditionally south-facing constructions were generally built on grand properties, and used to protect orange and other fruit trees from the severest winter weather. Among the wealthy elite, orangeries became status symbols rather than merely a functional home extension.

Today, you can choose a classic-style or a more modern orangery, with contemporary versions tending to incorporate more glass and thinner brick pillars into the structure, or window and door frames and columns may be made from a modern material such as aluminium. Orangeries can add a touch of present-day glamour to your home – and are ideal if you’re looking for a dash of extra style or perhaps to match the pillars with your window frames.

What Is A Conservatory?

A conservatory is typically a fully glazed structure with a low brick base and a roof comprising more than 75% glass with walls which are a minimum of 50% glazed. These structures are built against the wall of a house, with a closing door and window and a separate heat source from the main building.

There is a grander look to orangeries, which incorporate brick or aluminum areas plus a brick base and a smaller glazed area.

Conservatories grew in popularity in the nineteenth century, but really took off from the 1970s and early 1980s onwards as they became accessible to homeowners in greater numbers with the development of uPVC frames.

The Key Differences Between Orangeries & Conservatories

While both building types clearly have a lot in common, and the differences between the two can be very subtle, there are nonetheless some key elements which set the two apart. These include:

• The prevalence of brick in orangeries, while conservatories have greater glazed surface areas
• An orangery is more closely associated with elegance and grandeur, so is typically more suited to period or bigger, ‘grander’ properties
• Given its greater glazed surface area, a conservatory blurs the boundaries with the outside world more. While an orangery also lets natural light in, it can feel more like an extension due to the brick panels incorporated within the overall structure.

Differences In Performance Between Orangeries & Conservatories

Both of these home improvements perform well, not least with the advances in modern glazing in recent years. Nonetheless, there are some slight differences, such as:

• A conservatory is harder to keep consistently warm in the winter and cooler in the summer, which is down to the extra glass involved – although modern technology tends to make this less of an issue
• For its part, an orangery offers better insulation against whatever the British weather throws at it, being cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, due to its brick-based construction
• An orangery also provides better insulation against intrusive noise than a conservatory, which has bigger glazed panels
• When it comes to security performance, both do well, thanks to modern lock and safety technology
• An orangery will typically be slightly more energy efficient due to its better climate-control features, potentially resulting in a better energy efficiency rating

Which Will Add More Value To A Property – A Conservatory Or An Orangery?

Both types of home extension can significantly add value to your home and provide what estate agents call ‘kerb appeal’, or the attractiveness of a property and its surroundings when seen from the street.

A conservatory adds on average between 5% and 12% to the value of a property. For an orangery, the value can be as much as for a full home extension, or from 5% and up to 15%.

Think carefully about the type of property you own before you settle on a conservatory or orangery. If you go for something which doesn’t really complement your particular home and its specific features, kerb appeal and/or value can sometimes be lost.

Which Would Be More Suitable For Me?

Orangeries tend to suit traditional homes which have a particular charm or unique design.

It’s also important to consider whether your home improvement will be at the expense of any precious garden space, especially if potentially selling up or adding value to the place are particular priorities, since losing garden space can cancel out any value an orangery or conservatory may add to your home. Conservatories generally offer a more contemporary style, with their fully glazed designs.

Meanwhile, orangeries are probably your best bet if you aim to create a permanent space.

In truth, it’s a highly personal decision and will depend on your current property, your budget, what you want to use the home improvement for, and how important it is to you to flood the space with natural daylight.

Looking To Extend Your Home?

If you’re looking to extend your property with a new conservatory or orangery, we at R&M Windows have a stunning selection of extensions from which you can take your pick. Based in Bracknell, we also cover other areas near us in Berkshire, including Maidenhead, Ascot, Windsor and Wokingham. Get in touch with us today for a no-charge, no-obligation chat – we never give anyone the hard sell. We’ll be happy to chat through some options, and can offer expert advice.