Conservatories in Newcastle

A well-designed conservatory gives you a bright extra room for far less disruption than a full brick extension. Across Newcastle and the North East, we see them used as dining rooms, home offices, playrooms and quiet spots to watch the garden through the seasons. The secret is getting the design, roof and glass right for your house and the way you plan to use the room.

Below, we answer the questions we hear most often at survey, from style to planning and comfort.

Which conservatory style suits your house?

The best conservatory looks as though it belongs to the house. We start with the shape of your home, the space you have and how the room will be used, then match a style to it.

Lean-to conservatories

A lean-to has a single sloping roof running down from the house wall. It's simple, tidy and works well where space is tight or there's a first-floor window close above, which is common on Victorian terraces and Tyneside flats with a back yard.

Victorian and Edwardian conservatories

A Victorian conservatory has a faceted bay front and a steep, ornate roof. It suits period homes and gives a lovely rounded seating area. An Edwardian design is square or rectangular with a hipped roof, so you get more usable floor space for a dining table or sofa. Both look at home on 1930s semis in areas like Gosforth and Fenham.

Gable-fronted, P-shaped and T-shaped designs

A gable front carries the roof up to a tall triangular face, giving a lofty, open feel and plenty of light. P-shaped and T-shaped layouts combine a lean-to with a Victorian or Edwardian section. They suit larger detached homes where you want two zones, such as a dining area and a lounge, in one room.

Do you need planning permission for a conservatory?

Many conservatories in England are built under permitted development, which means you don't need a full planning application. Whether yours qualifies depends on several things.

• Depth: as a general guide, a single-storey rear conservatory can project up to 3 metres from the original rear wall of a semi-detached or terraced house, and up to 4 metres on a detached house. Larger depths may be possible through the prior approval process.
• Height: limits apply to the overall height, and to the eaves height where the conservatory is within 2 metres of a boundary.
• Position: it can't extend beyond the front of the house facing a road, and side extensions have their own width limits.
• Coverage: extensions and outbuildings together can't cover more than half the land around the original house.

There are important exceptions. Flats and maisonettes don't have the same permitted development rights. Homes in conservation areas have tighter limits, and some streets have Article 4 directions that remove rights altogether. Listed buildings need listed building consent. Previous extensions, including ones built by earlier owners, also count towards the limits.

Building Regulations and the conservatory exemption

Planning and Building Regulations are separate. Planning is about how the conservatory looks and affects neighbours, while Building Regulations cover how it's built. Many conservatories are exempt from most Building Regulations, but only if they meet all of the usual conditions.

• It is built at ground level with a floor area under 30 square metres.
• It is separated from the house by external-quality walls, doors or windows that stay in place.
• It has no heating, or its own independent heating with separate controls, rather than an extension of your main central heating.
• Glazing and any fixed electrical work meet the relevant regulations.

If you want to knock through and remove the doors between the house and the conservatory, or run radiators off your main boiler, the room will usually need Building Regulations approval like any other extension. The same often applies where the roof is mostly solid. We'll explain how this applies to your design, but always confirm the position with building control or your council if you're unsure.

How do you stop a conservatory getting too hot or too cold?

Older conservatories earned a bad name for being an oven in July and a fridge in January. Most of that came down to thin polycarbonate roofs and basic glass. Modern designs handle the North East climate much better.

Roof choice

The roof is the single biggest factor. A solid tiled or hybrid roof gives an insulated plastered ceiling with spotlights, while a high-performance glass roof keeps the light. Solar-control glass reflects a good share of the sun's heat and cuts glare, which matters on south-facing gardens.

Glass, ventilation and heating

Energy-efficient double glazing in the walls holds warmth on cold, windy evenings. Roof vents and opening windows let hot air escape on still summer days. For winter, an independent electric radiator or underfloor heating with its own thermostat keeps the room usable without breaking the exemption rules mentioned above.

Foundations, base and dwarf walls

A conservatory is only as good as what sits underneath it. We dig and pour proper foundations to suit your ground conditions, then build an insulated, damp-proofed base. Clay soils, nearby trees and drains can all affect the foundation design, so we check these at survey.

Most of our conservatories sit on a brick dwarf wall, matched as closely as possible to your house brick. A dwarf wall adds privacy, helps with furniture layout and holds warmth better than glass down to the floor. Full-height glazing suits a garden room where the view matters most.

Conservatory, orangery or extension?

A conservatory is mostly glass. That gives you the most light and usually the quickest build. An orangery has more solid wall and a flat perimeter roof with a central lantern, so it feels more like part of the house. A traditional brick extension feels fully integrated but involves more building work and nearly always needs Building Regulations approval.

If you already have a conservatory that's uncomfortable, you may not need to start again. A replacement conservatory roof can make an existing room comfortable all year, provided the frames and base are sound.

What affects the cost of a conservatory?

Every conservatory is made to measure, so prices vary from one home to the next. The main factors are:

• the size and style, as P-shaped and gable designs need more materials and engineering
• the roof type, with solid and hybrid roofs costing more than glass
• groundwork, especially on sloping gardens or where drains need moving
• dwarf walls versus full-height glazing
• frame colour and material, whether uPVC or aluminium
• doors, such as French or bi-fold doors opening onto the garden
• electrics, heating, flooring and blinds

Our quotes are free, fixed and itemised, so you can see where the money goes and adjust the specification if you need to. If you'd like a design for your own home, fill in the quote form and we'll arrange a survey.