September 22, 2022

Highfield Way Featured on Grand Designs!

Written by Rebecca Clayton

Did you spot our sliding doors on Grand Designs: Chess Valley?  

Episode 4 (Chess Valley 2022) of the latest series of Grand Designs saw Matt and Davi create a bespoke house in Chess Valley, bringing together various elements of their diverse backgrounds to create a modern and light filled new home.  

IQ were involved in the project from the early stages, working closely with Tye Architects to provide the sliding doors seen on Grand Designs.

The project was a SIPs construction project. Structurally insulated panels were used to form the skeleton of the building before any glazed elements were installed. There are many advantages to using SIPs but one of the key factors is the time; these builds are significantly faster to build and once the surveying and manufacturing are complete can be installed to extremely tight deadlines.

Structurally insulated panels have a lifespan of around 60+ years but some of the oldest recorded SIPs builds are now approaching 90 years old with no recorded major issues.  

To create the large glass openings the owners wanted, IQ worked with Tye to specify large areas of oversized sliding glass. The sliding doors on Grand Designs were triple glazed, with a thermally broken aluminium frame and a minimal 25mm visible sightline between glass units.

The resulting glass installations are minimal, insulating and maximise the amount of glass in each opening.  These minimal sliding doors on Grand Designs were specified due to their unrivalled thermal performance values, creating comfortable living temperatures all year round even in highly glazed spaces.  

Due to the speed of the construction program, the glass doors installed on Grand Designs were manufactured to agreed sizes. This means we did not go to site and measure the openings. We agreed a size we would manufacture to with the builder and architect and went into production as soon as possible.

Due to the production lead time of these types of minimal aluminium systems, paired with the speedy construction of SIPs panels, the building program could not allow for the openings to be built, measured and then wait for the glass doors to be manufactured.  

By making the sliding doors on Grand Designs to agreed sizes, the manufacturing of the glass doors could begin whilst construction was still taking place.  

Whilst this is all good on paper, the built environment doesn’t always go to plan. When we arrived on site to install the sliding glass doors, we realised the opening had been built a few millimetres out on one edge of the aperture.

A few millimetres difference might seem small but when you are working with architectural glazing – built and designed millimetre perfect – this causes major issues to installation. Thankfully, the team at IQ were able to work with the builder on site to amend the opening and get the glass in successfully.  

Our skilled team of installers and site operatives are trained in finding solutions such as this one, making the original issue redundant and offering a solution that left all parties happy with the outcome.  

The result was a stunning new build property that used the sliding doors on Grand Designs to create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor environments and strengthen the connection to nature from within the home.

Natural light will now be able to flow freely into the interior spaces and uninterrupted views of the outdoors can be enjoyed from within the luxury home.

We have another project scheduled to feature on Grand Designs in a couple of weeks, keep an eye on our social media and website channels to find out more about the next one.  

To discuss triple glazed slim sliding doors for your next project, contact the IQ team today.