January 16, 2017

Architectural Glazing and Nature

Written by Rebecca Clayton

Architectural glazing can be very impressive. With the latest technologies, glazing companies are able to create a wide range of products with incredible qualities to create stunning projects. Recently, architects have been playing with the idea of merging glass with nature.

A tubular glass house was designed by Aibek Almassov in Kazakhstan to be built around a full-grown tree. The idea was to create an inverted treehouse, intended to provide an escape from the ‘sweltering concrete boxes of city life’. This fully glazed cylindrical structure allows a 360 degree view of the forest.

Image Source Dezeen

Aibek Almassov, said: "The main purpose of this project is to offer an alternative to the bustle of city life. We wanted to combine the capabilities of modern industrial design and the natural wealth and beauty."

Through the glazing you will see four ring-shaped floors with a spiralling white staircase that wraps around the trunk of the tree. By creating a frameless tubular glass house, Almassov will be able to provide incredible views of the surroundings from inside the glass house. To create this tubular house, structural glass would have to be used due to there being no framing support. Using frameless glass for this project was ideal as it means no views are obstructed from the inside or outside.

IQ Glass have installed slim sliding doors onto multiple properties that are connected to nature in some way. The first example is the Green Garden project where minimal windows^® glass sliding doors were installed as an entrance to a terraced area and garden. The garden is completely visible from inside the home, even with the doors shut due to the large glass façades and slim aluminium framing. Installing these sliding doors allows the homeowners to merge their interior with nature.

minimal windows^® sliding glass doors on the Green Garden Project.

Another example is The Forest House where slim framed glass sliding doors were installed onto a home in the middle of a forest. minimal windows^® sliding glass doors were installed surrounding the home to provide incredible views of the forest and to allow the client to merge their indoor living spaces with nature.

minimal windows^® sliding glass doors on The Forest House project.

The latest project was The Internal Garden House which is most similar to the tubular glass house as it looks as though there are trees within the home. This illusion is created by having a small courtyard in the centre of the home, viewable through the slim framed sliding glass doors. These minimal windows^® glass  sliding doors allow the home owners to merge their internal spaces with the courtyard.

minimal windows^® sliding glass doors on The Internal Garden House Project.