A conservatory is a glazed room attached to the house, with a solid floor and a glass or polycarbonate roof. It works both as a growing space and as a sitting room, so glazing, ventilation and heating need to suit people as well as plants. Kits are supplied for self build.
A conservatory is a glazed room with a solid floor and a glass or polycarbonate roof, attached to the house or standing alone in the garden. It differs from a greenhouse in one important respect: it has to be comfortable for people, not only suitable for plants.
That single difference drives everything else. Glazing, ventilation, heating and flooring all need specifying with human comfort in mind, and the result is a structure that costs more and takes longer to build than a greenhouse of the same footprint.
Most conservatories end up serving both, and the balance is worth deciding early. A room used mainly for plants can run warmer and more humid, with staging along the glazed walls and a floor that tolerates spilt water.
A room used mainly for sitting needs shading in summer, heating in winter and a floor you would want to walk on barefoot. Plants still thrive there, but the specification follows the people.
If growing is the priority and comfort secondary, a large greenhouse will do the job for considerably less. If you want warmth held well enough to overwinter tender stock and sit among it, an orangery sits between the two.
A glazed room facing south will overheat in summer without intervention. This is the most common complaint about conservatories, and it is entirely predictable at the design stage.
Our shading range covers nets, blinds and shade paint. For winter, glazing choice and insulation matter more than heater output, since a poorly glazed room will lose heat as fast as you can add it.
A conservatory needs foundations, a damp proof course and a floor, which is a different order of work from laying a base for a greenhouse. Kits supplied for self build still assume that groundwork is done properly beforehand.
Check whether planning permission or building regulations apply to your situation before ordering. Rules vary with size, siting and whether the structure is attached to the house, and it is not a question to leave until after delivery.
Furniture in a conservatory has to cope with humidity and wide temperature swings that indoor furniture does not. Our greenhouse furniture range is built for exactly those conditions.
For the growing side, staging along a glazed wall keeps plants at working height and leaves the floor clear for living.
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