Glazing Vision provides bespoke rooflights to create a stunning astronomical observatory

Glazing Vision recently supplied a bespoke Ridgeglaze rooflight to help enable a client to blend their dream of an eco-friendly home with their love of astronomy.

It was in 2013, after three years of searching, that the homeowners found their ideal site to build their dream home, just north of the Nevis Range. With a long-held passion for astronomy, a dark sky site, free of light pollution, was a necessity. 

The owners of this impressive dwelling needed an architectural design outcome that respected the highland landscape while giving an unhindered view of the night sky and the views from Grey Corries to Ben Nevis and the Loch Lochy Mountains. Following discussions with their builder A.N. Fraser of South Laggan, a bespoke version of Glazing Vision’s Ridgeglaze Rooflight was the ideal solution for this.

The standard Ridgeglaze rooflight is a fixed product – with no moving parts. Its key advantage is that it allows light into the dwelling on both returns by being placed over the apex of a pitched roof. Glazing Vision’s experienced team of CAD designers and engineers take this concept further still by motorising it, allowing it to glide over the roof, opening up the apex to give a full panoramic view of the majestic Highland landscape. The end result is a hybridised version of the Glazing Vision’s Ridgeglaze and Sliding Over Roof rooflights.

The custom-built opening skylight met the precise guidelines set by Highland planning authorities, which stated that the property must have a pitched roof and be eco-friendly and energy-efficient and also allowed the client to create a stunning home observatory.

Having considered the option of a separate building for the observatory, the homeowners finally decided on a sliding Ridgeglaze which adds functionality while maintaining their home’s silhouette. The resulting space would be outside the house’s insulation so as not to affect sensitive high-tech equipment, with gable-busting windows maximising solar gain in the rooms below. A suntrap was created in the observatory by specifying a 28.8 mm double-glazed unit, comprising of 6mm clear heat soak tested toughened outer pane with a 14mm argon filled warm edge spacer cavity and an 8.8mm laminate low emissivity inner pane.

This unique property was designed to be ecologically friendly from the outset, achieving an SAP rating of A+ upon its completion. Every aspect of this structure is a reflection of its owners’ character – from its eco-friendly credentials – to its extraordinary views – to the fact that they specified the design themselves, rather than employing architectural designers.

Contact:

Glazing Vision Ltd,
Sawmills Road,
Diss,
IP22 4RG

01379 658 300

[email protected]

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