Where Elegance Meets Nature
For those who appreciate luxury, character, and enduring beauty, an oak orangery is more than an extension—it’s a lifestyle statement. In an ever stressful fast paced world the orangery is the place to slow down, take a moment and concentrate on your wellbeing. This architectural gem bridges the gap between indoor comfort and the natural world, inviting sunlight and seasons into your home for you to enjoy all year round whatever the weather.
What Is an Orangery?
An orangery traces its roots back to the 17th century. Unlike a glass-dominated conservatory, an orangery marries seamlessly with your house. Picture brickwork, oak beams, and carefully placed windows—a harmonious blend of form and function. Historically, orangeries sheltered citrus trees during winter, but today, they serve as sophisticated spaces for relaxation, entertainment, and contemplation. Think of warm roofs for cosy winters watching frosty mornings, and bi-fold doors for the perfect connection to your garden on a summers day.
Why choose an oak orangery over a masonry extension.
Timeless Aesthetics: Oak framed extensions exude timeless elegance and rustic charm. Integrating seamlessly with various architectural styles, an oak orangery wouldn’t look out of place in a modern home or a traditional property. The warmth and character of oak enhance your home’s interior, creating an inviting living space that can be enjoyed year-round.
Durability: Historically used for shipbuilding, oak is designed to withstand harsh weather conditions making it an ideal robust and durable material for your home. It’s enduring quality will add value to your home, and stand the test of time with minimal maintenance.
Sustainability: Absorbing more CO2 then it releases, oak is a sustainable building material sourced from responsibly managed forests.
Adaptability: Oak can be shaped and designed to suit your specific needs. Create vaulted ceilings, glazed gable ends, or unique layouts to suit your lifestyle.
Return on Investment: A quality oak framed extension adds significant value to your property, with the additional floor area and light-filled living space enhancing both the aesthetics and functionality of your home.
Do you need planning permission for an oak orangery?
The great news is that most orangery extensions fall within the permitted development rights and therefore do not require planning permission. Here are a few things to consider if looking to extend your home within permitted development rules;
- Must not extend the rear of your home by more than 4 meters if a detached property or 3 meters if any other home
- Must not be higher than the highest point of the house, or higher at the eves than the existing eves.
- If within 2 meters of the property boundary must not be more than 3 meters to the eves.
- Cannot be built to the front of your property.
- All properties within a conservation area, AONB, or that are listed must apply through planning permission.
How much does an oak orangery or garden room cost?
So you’re sold on the natural light, the peaceful moments, and your new connection with the outside world, but what is the cost of such luxury? Well, this can very much depend on your budget and your level of grandeur required. A very simple guide allowing for everything from the groundworks up to the roof tiles would be around £2000-£3000/sqm (+VAT if using Top Barn Timber Frames Ltd). How you design your space will depend on whether you are closer to the £2000/sqm or £3000/sqm. Here are some of the things to consider.
Ground works: This is often the unknown, but footings and a stable foundation are a must and not something you should be cutting corners on. What is in the ground is the big if which can end up adding some additional surprise cost. We would recommend working with a trusted builder for this to ensure you are getting quality at a fair price. If you live in the local areas of Lincoln, Grimsby, Louth, Horncastle, and Market Rasen we have trusted builders we can recommend.
Glazing: The bigger the glazing sections, the larger the undisrupted views. To keep the cost of the glazing down, stick to 2.3m2 sections. As you go above this size the cost starts to increase significantly.
Trusses: Trusses add elegance, beauty and character. Some are structurally required, some are purely ornamental. Whether structural or not trusses add cost, and the more unique and beautiful, chances are the more time that will go into handcrafting them.
Why Choose Top Barn Timber Frames
Handcrafted: While some companies opt for CNC machines for conformity we believe in the traditional craftsmanship of timber framing. All of our work and every piece of your frame from the pegs to the joints is handcrafted in our workshop.
Experience: With over 30 years experience across our small team we will work with you to develop a beautiful design for your exacting requirements, and then construct it to the highest quality.
Quality: All our frames are created using the highest quality timber, and go through a quality check before being brought to site. If we are not happy with a piece of timber or a joint we will start again.
Personalisation: As a family run business we understand that your frame is an extension of you and your lifestyle. Designed by Oliver, we will work with you to finalise a frame design that will merge seamlessly into your home and your life. The process will start with a site visit where we will consider everything from how the space will be utilised, what views needs framing or shielding, how you want it to connect with the outside, and how you want its versatility to adapt over time.
Project Management: Oliver started his career as a general joiner with a wealth of building experience. We have a team of strategic suppliers who for our more local projects can offer everything from groundworks, to roofing, to plastering and electrics. While we specialise in the timber frame if you are looking for a full turn key solution and are within the local areas of Lincoln, Grimsby, Louth, Horncastle, Gainsborough, Brigg, Woodhall Spa, Market Rasen, Wragby and Caistor we can support across the entire project.
What next?
If you are looking to take the next step in your dream oak extension we can work with you to perfect your design, take it through planning and build the dream.
We take on projects across Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. If you live in the local areas of Lincoln, Grimsby, Louth, Horncastle, Gainsborough, Brigg, Woodhall Spa, Market Rasen, Wragby and Caistor we can also support you with the wider trades required to complete your timber framed extension.
Please contact us on info@topbarntimberframes.co.uk or call us on 01673 260105 to start discussing your project today.
