A glass act: Some of the best garden rooms, greenhouses and orangeries money can buy

Whether as an extension to the home or somewhere to grow difficult plants, Amelia Thorpe has selected builders and designers to get the perfect job done.

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(Image credit: Alitex)

Glass extensions, whether an orangery, garden room or greenhouse, can create the perfect place to eat, entertain, grow the perfect plant, or just relax and read the paper. And as the below examples prove, if you find the right design, it can elevate your entire home.

Inspired by the designs of the Victorian engineer Thomas Messenger, this bespoke double-hipped, freestanding Messenger glasshouse is made from aluminium for structural integrity and longevity, powder coated in Wood Sage, with nuts and bolts capped to create a faithful replica of a traditional timber design, from Alitex.


(Image credit: Prime Oak)

Featuring two striking roof lanterns and two sets of bi-folding doors, this poolside bespoke oak-frame orangery makes a home wellbeing centre, complete with sauna, gym, shower and changing rooms. It’s by Prime Oak.


(Image credit: Vale Garden Houses/Nicky Dobree)

‘A bespoke orangery is a wonderful way of being creative with design, breaking the tradition of conventional rooms in the house and offering a distinctive atmosphere with almost unlimited use,’ says interior designer Nicky Dobree, who worked with Vale Garden Houses to create this bespoke timber dining extension to a kitchen at the rear of a family house, opening on to the garden.


(Image credit: Julius Bahn)

Forming an extension to a mellow stone country home, this tiled oak orangery features solid-oak French doors offering direct access to the garden path and onto the expanse of lawn and is by bespoke oak-frame building specialist Julius Bahn.


(Image credit: Simon Kennedy/London Architectural Photography)

Designed to provide an indoor-outdoor entertaining space, this oak-frame extension has a mansard roof with clay tiles and a large glass lantern, complete with low-level brick walls to match the Arts-and-Crafts house, by Oakwrights.


(Image credit: Hartley Botanic)

This bespoke square Grange glasshouse features a high pyramid roof and large side vents, with deep staging on three sides. It is handmade in aluminium, finished in Vista Grey, by Hartley Botanic.


(Image credit: English Heritage Buildings)

Known for its bespoke oak-frame buildings, from garages to garden rooms, this home extension by English Heritage Buildings is designed to create a sunny space for relaxing and enjoying the garden views.


(Image credit: Griffin Glasshouses)

A lean-to design can make a good glasshouse solution for a property with a high wall, as the brick collects the sun’s heat, releasing it at night to provide warm conditions for growing peaches, apricots and bougainvillaea. This bespoke Victorian lean-to greenhouse is by Griffin Glasshouses.


(Image credit: David Salisbury)

This bespoke timber orangery for a listed former vicarage is by David Salisbury, painted in Eagle Sight, a soft grey-white from the company’s own paint collection


Nels Crosthwaite Eyre hall

The hall of a Grade II-listed manor house in Hampshire, transformed by Nels Crosthwaite Eyre of Eyre Interiors, a company which is among the new entries in the 2024 Country Life Top 100.
(Image credit: Simon Brown/Country Life Magazine Simon Brown/Country Life Magazine)

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Credit: Acres Farm

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Credit: Soane

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(Image credit: Jake Eastham)

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Amelia Thorpe is an interiors and design journalist, and a regular contributor to Country Life.