Grow a winter garden with advice Formalities for building a winter garden

Unfortunately in Germany it is not easy to add a winter garden to the house – here’s what you need in most cases a building permit by the competent building authority. Since state building codes have different guidelines, you should definitely check with the affected municipalities before starting construction. The necessary documents to be submitted to the building authority include:

Formulate
Construction application
Construction drawings
consent of neighbors
Extract from the land registry office
Description of the construction
Construction calculation
Various technical tests
Any additional tests (sound insulation, fire protection, ventilation or heating)

Types of conservatories

Considered a winter garden a glass house with glass roof Made of high quality glass, which you will mainly use as an extension of your living space. It borders directly on the garden or has a view of the garden or landscape. Depending on what you want to use your conservatory for, the following options are available:

The unheated conservatory – as an extension of the terrace season or as a climate buffer (cold conservatory)
The temperature-controlled conservatory is used to overwinter sensitive plants and is a great relaxation area for residents
The heated “warm” conservatory (residential conservatory) is a living space that is used all year round and needs to be heated

location of the winter garden

If there is a lot of space around your house, you are free to decide where to build the winter garden. East or west side of the house they are best if the conservatory is intended primarily for relaxation. Here the sunlight is moderate, so in the morning you can use the winter garden as a dining room and in the evening as a relaxation area.

In the south-facing conservatory you can create a real orangery. Sunlight penetrates here in large quantities, making growing exotic and tropical plants child’s play. The east side of the house is the least favorable. In the winter garden positioned in this way, little sun enters the house, so the interior remains quite cool. However, this solution has the advantage that autumn and winter cultivation constitutes an excellent buffer against the penetration of cold into the building.

Plans for the winter garden

A simple gable roof construction – a the so-called attached winter garden – is standard for the conservatory. This design is economical and generates heat gains due to the greater slope of the front half of the roof. When designing, ensure that the conservatory connects to the existing home in an architecturally and visually appealing way. In this case as many construction lines as possible should be continued and the choice of material and paint should be adapted to the residential building.

A more complex construction a polygonal winter garden. The plan is hexagonal or polygonal and its shape resembles a pavilion. This polygonal conservatory is especially recommended if the roof of the house is designed in a similar way. One downside is that there isn’t much space. Installing shading is also more difficult here. On the other hand, the polygonal shape allows more light and of course heat, so that the polygonal conservatory does not cool down so quickly in the cold season.

The most expensive construction is a corner conservatory. The structure of the roof is very complex; You also need to install more glass for the same usable space. Since the wall of the house is only partially anchored to the load-bearing structure, special static solutions must be included in the design. The big plus is a stunning 270 degree panoramic view of the garden.

Glass cultivation must rest on solid foundations

During the construction of the winter garden the solid foundation for the stability of the winter garden yourself and also for the house. Depending on the location you choose, you can use existing patio slabs or create a completely new foundation. Before choosing the first option it is necessary to check whether the panels can really support the loads of the winter garden.

Glazing in the winter garden

Next to the construction comes the window of the winter garden enormous importance. When choosing glazing, you need to consider the following aspects:

Sun protection – you can prevent the conservatory from becoming unbearable with solar and heat protection glazing and adequate shading of the conservatory (external and internal)
Security: anti-burglary protection is guaranteed by safety glasses
Soundproofing: eliminate annoying noises with soundproof glass
Cleaning: Self-cleaning glass is particularly useful for large conservatories