Orangery Materials: What an Orangery Is Built From
Updated: 8 hours ago
A traditional orangery is made of four things: a hardwood frame, a masonry base, high-performance glazing and a solid insulated roof with a lantern. The choice within each of those, painted or stained hardwood, brick or stone, which glass and which roof covering, decides how the orangery looks on the day it is finished and how it looks in thirty years. These are the materials we use and why.
Hardwood for the frame
The frame is the heart of the orangery, and we build it in engineered hardwood, finished to suit the house. A painted frame suits most period homes and gives the slimmest glazing bars; a stained or oiled finish suits rural houses and barn conversions, where the grain of the timber is part of the look.
For painted orangeries we use engineered hardwoods such as sapele. Engineered timber is laminated from selected sections so it is straighter and more stable than a single piece, and it holds paint far better than softwood. Where extra resistance to moisture is wanted, Accoya is an alternative: it is a modified softwood, treated to resist moisture and rot, and it carries long manufacturer guarantees against both. These timbers allow the slim glazing bars and the traditional window proportions a period elevation needs, and they are what most of our traditional hardwood orangeries are built from.
How the frame options compare (durability classes are the European EN 350 scale, 1 most durable to 5 least):
Engineered sapele (hardwood): durability class 3, moderately durable; stable, fine-grained and holds paint well. Our usual choice for painted frames.
Accoya (acetylated softwood): durability class 1; a modified softwood rather than a hardwood, very stable and rot resistant, and a good choice for the most exposed elevations.
Standard softwood: typically class 4 or 5 untreated; cheaper, but it moves more and needs treatment and closer maintenance, so we do not use it for orangery frames.
Brick and stone for the base
The piers and the plinth are built in brick or stone, matched to the house as closely as the house allows. On an older property that often means reclaimed brick or a handmade brick in the right colour and texture; on a stone house it means the local stone, cut to the same coursing. The base is not a dwarf wall in the conservatory sense. It is a set of structural piers on proper footings, carrying the roof, and the quality of the bricklaying and the pointing is as visible as the joinery above it. We treat the masonry as part of the design rather than as something for the frame to sit on. On listed buildings and in conservation areas the material choices are also the planning case: reclaimed brick, lead roofs, hardwood joinery and traditional detailing are what usually satisfy a conservation officer, so it pays to specify them from the start.
Glazing
Glass is the material that most affects comfort. We use low-E, argon-filled double or triple units, with solar control on south- and west-facing elevations and in the lantern, and low-iron or self-cleaning glass in the roof where it earns its place. Our guide to the best glass for a traditional orangery compares each type.
Roof structure and lantern
The orangery roof is an insulated flat deck, framed in timber or steel, with a glazed lantern over the centre. The deck is insulated to current building regulations standards and plastered underneath, so the ceiling around the lantern is a proper ceiling that takes downlights and a pelmet. The lantern is built in hardwood to match the frame, or in slim thermally broken aluminium where the span is large, with glazing specified to modern U-value standards and usually with solar control. This roof form is what gives an orangery better comfort and more daylight than a brick extension, without the exposure of an all-glass roof.
Roof coverings and lead
The flat perimeter of the roof is covered in lead on period and listed homes, dressed over the fascia and up the lantern kerb in the traditional way. Lead is the longest-lived covering there is and it suits the architecture. Elsewhere we use single-ply membranes or EPDM, laid in one piece, which last for decades when the falls and outlets are designed properly. The gutter is concealed behind the fascia so the roof edge stays clean.
Paint, coatings and hardware
Painted orangeries are finished with microporous exterior coatings that protect the timber and allow it to breathe, in any colour, and they are the reason a painted hardwood frame lasts as long as it does. Hardware is chosen to suit the period of the house: forged iron, aged brass and pewter window and door furniture on traditional orangeries, and slim stainless or powder-coated handles on modern ones. These are small choices that decide whether the orangery looks finished.
Interior finishes
Inside, an orangery is finished like the rest of the house: plastered walls and ceiling perimeter, matching cornice and skirting, and stone, porcelain, engineered timber or polished concrete over underfloor heating, with pelmet lighting around the lantern and sockets in the piers.
Orangery materials questions, answered
Do orangery materials affect the cost?
Yes, more than any other factor. Reclaimed brick, lead and triple glazing sit at the top of the range; matched new brick and membrane roofs sit below them. The proportion and the detailing matter as much as the material.
How long do the materials last?
Brick and stone piers for the life of the house. Hardwood frames for many decades with repainting or oiling. Lead roofs for a century. Sealed glazing units are the component most likely to need replacing in time.
Talk to our design team
If you are choosing materials for an orangery now, talk to our design team.
