Best in Class: Glasshouses

Liven up your garden with these innovative glasshouse designs

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This Victorian-style design is located in the gardens of Clay Hill, a fine period east coast American house that dates from 1820 and has featured in Architectural Digest and, only in the US, a title called Garden and Gun. Designed by Andrew Lewis of Neumann Lewis Buchanan Architects, it features a painted metal greenhouse kit from Amdega that has been set on a base of handmade oversize brick and a limestone cap and to which the architect added a small storage shed. Nlbarchitects.com; amdega.co.uk. Photo: Neumann Lewis Buchanan

This design by UK-based Alitex shows a very creative use of space. By enclosing a courtyard in glass it opens up the space to being used for more than just plants, fruit and vegetables, but as an integral part of the home and a space in which you could place a chair and enjoy the outdoors while being indoors, most of the year. This company installed the greenhouses at Avoca’s Kilmacanogue store. Alitex.co.uk

This project, called the Fern House, is by Robert Swinburne, a Vermont-based architect. While more of a sleeping space than a potting shed, it is very beguiling. Sheets of clear polycarbonate have been used to roof and screen it, and its generous overhangs offer additional shelter on rainy days. The bed hangs from the roof structure and on warm nights its owner uses it as a place to sleep al fresco. During the summer months, the structure appears to float on a sea of ferns that surround its raised platform base. You can buy plans for this from $150, including a sketch-up model from the architect. Swinburnearchitect.com

Sat Jul 16 2016 - 06:00

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