This luxury contemporary replacement home in Essex, designed by Ström Architects, invites you into its entrance quadrant, characterised by a striking long stone wall that seamlessly connects clerestory glazing with a floating overhanging roof. Upon arrival at the impressive double-storey entrance, you are greeted by a captivating flow that embodies the innovative Pinwheel design. Slim profile sliding glass doors encircle each living space, providing breathtaking views of the mature garden that exudes an open parkland ambiance.
Featured In
Project Partners
Architects: Ström Architects
Image credits: Helena Lee
Location
Essex
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Design Context & Challenges
Once inside the luxury contemporary home, the double height airy entrance space acts as the pivot point of the pinwheel design.
The main kitchen and dining space uses slim profile sliding glass doors in global alignment with the structural pillars of the pavilion style overhanging roof reflecting the minimal clean lines of the architecture.
One major challenge on the project was achieving the project’s signature floating roof and transparent perimeter. IQ Glass’s clerestory glazing and slim‑framed sliding systems were essential to this ambition, but integrating large spans of structural glass with long masonry walls required careful coordination. The design demanded continuous visual openness while maintaining structural stability, thermal performance, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces. The double‑height entrance volume intensified this complexity, as it had to act as the pivot of the pin‑wheel while remaining visually light and fully glazed.
Additional Project information
Seven oversized panes of slim profile sliding glass doors are installed in two open corner configurations. The first open corner to the side has over 4m glass facade with one fixed and one bi parting to the widest elevation which spans over 6m in two oversized panes which had to be installed by cranes due to the panels weighing in excess of 360kg each.
The varying width sliding glass doors perfectly align with the steel posts when closed.
The widest aperture achieved when all the elements are open is more than two thirds of the entire space.
The slim profile sliding door frames are finished to RAL 7016 Matt with 21mm visible sightlines.
A large window box is positioned on the same elevation as the long clerestory glazed wall as a reading nook in the beating heart of this Luxury contemporary replacement home.
As you move through the kitchen space to the snug, you pass through a dedicated outdoor kitchen with high engineered timber, and a pine tree growing through the timber clad roof opening adding to the clean yet playful design. The outdoor space from the snug can be increased once the slim sliding doors are opened creating the perfect indoor outdoor entertaining space close to the long and narrow swimming pool.
Oversized slim profile sliding glass doors continue in the bedrooms on the south west elevation of this Luxury contemporary home with full height frameless glass panels in an open corner configuration promoting the connection between the outdoors and indoors with the master bedroom owning the best views of the garden.
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As the walls continue round to the south east of the pinwheel layout, slim Sieger sliding glass doors, casement windows and doors are installed to the utilitarian areas which house the study and the gym.
Technical Details:
- Two track 21mm profile sliding doors
- RAL 7016 Matt
- Thermally broken aluminium frame with flush threshold
- Aprox glass weight 360kg each
- Invisio structural glass - toughened glass
High‑Performance Glazing
The slim profile sliding glass doors use an elegant floor to ceiling shading system in the living spaces to reduce any solar gain on top of the over-sailing cantilevered roof.
The automated shades are seamlessly recessed into the timber ceiling with the minimal track of the sliding doors visible blurring the boundaries of inside and outside.
Stone walls, which extend beyond the house into the landscape, ground the architecture in the open site. Together with the expansive frameless glazing and floating roof planes, the design achieves a delicate balance between solidity and transparency, blending the built form with the vast natural surroundings.
The result is a luxury contemporary pavilion style replacement home elevated with expansive frameless glass walls, and the roof design with timber soffits running seamlessly from inside to outside, reinforcing the sense of continuity and creating a tactile connection between the internal and external environments.
Are you working on a one-off luxury contemporary home with a requirement for architectural slim profile sliding glass doors and bespoke glazing?
Send us your design intent drawings today! [email protected]
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