Greeting from Deutschland.

Nancy and I arrived in Germany today on our way to look at a new conservatory project. We will be in Europe for two weeks and will make special visits to see some of the great historic European conservatories in Vienna, the Czech Republic, Budapest – and any others we can find.

Our initial meeting was in the Bavarian town of Rosenheim with Mr. Franz Wurm, Director of the Wintergarten-Fachverband conservatory association of which Tanglewood Conservatories is an honorary member.

Mr. Wurm was responsible for our visit last year when Nancy and I addressed the association meeting and made a presentation of our work to the group.

While in Rosenheim, we took the opportunity to visit the nearby Herrenchiemsee castle built by Bavarian King Ludwig II. The castle sits on an island in Lake Chiemsee which can only be reached by ferryboat. It was built from 1878 to 1885 and cost the current equivalent of about $124,000,000 USD.

The castle was modeled on the Palace of Versailles due to Ludwig’s great respect for King Louis XIV of France and includes a hall of mirrors, the ceiling of which is painted with twenty-five scenes of the French King. After Ludwig’s death in 1886, construction stopped leaving fifty of the seventy rooms unfinished.
The castle was one of the locations featured in the computer game The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, which was set in Bavaria with a storyline that involved King Ludwig.

One of the interesting features of the castle was the way it is sited when it was built and what has been done with it since. From both the front and the back, long alleys cut through the woods directly on axis with the building creating vista’s all the way to the shore of the lake. You can stand on the fronts steps of the castle and peer through the forest all the way to the lake.

The shoreline at the front opens to a man made mooring for the boats of the time and on the far lake shore, directly across the lake (and also on center axis with the palace!), some modern day planner purposely situated a new public swimming pool palace!

I thought this was entirely appropriate, even if Lugwig would not have been so amused, because, outside the castle are very formal gardens with a series of exquisite fountains and pools that were the cutting edge of the technology of the day. How appropriate that the new swimming pool enclosure building, directly on axis with the castle and its garden fountains extend the illusion of sweeping space well beyond what the original monarch, in striving to portray his expansive greatness, might have imagined. In addition to being spatially related, the castle with its water gardens, the lake and the new swimming pool park are thematically related by the water.

The new swimming pool palace is also a modern marvel of technology. It is completely transparent with an ornamental wood structure inside and encloses a large water park where bathers can revel in the warm waters as if outside, year round. How techno-edge is that, Ludwig!
Of course the great irony is that the new swimming pool palace is a public space given over to the whim and folly of the commoners! As such, it is fitting that it is on the other side of the lake in contrast to the castle which was the whim and folly of the royalty on the other side!

Alan

Another new project involves an interesting design for a second floor conservatory addition to the home of some of our best friends, Molly and Michael.

You might have noticed the frequent mention of Molly and Michael on our website, because in addition to owning one of our favorite Tanglewood conservatories, they are about to embark on an unprecedented FIFTH project with us!

First there was a beautiful lantern over their entry foyer which though initially proposed as a solution to a leak in their roof, became a focal point in the front of their home allowing the sunlight pouring through stained glass windows to light up the wide curved staircase below. This project was accomplished quickly while planning the main addition, the jewel box spa conservatory out in the garden.

That custom conservatory was a unique collaboration with them and the spa enclosure room that resulted, one of our most loved conservatories, was chronicled in the video about their project.

Molly and Michael were so smitten with Tanglewood’s work by then that during a major renovation to their kitchen, they asked us to turn what was then an odd left over space leading out to a back patio, into a mahogany paneled sitting room with two story mahogany and stained glass windows looking out the their rhododendron gardens.

I admit that I was a bit skeptical that the resulting space which was only ten feet wide, would actually feel like a real room when we finished, but Molly’s vision was right on and the new cozy paneled space, furnished with red leather wingchairs became a perfect parlor, a custom mini conservatory.

Next came a large elaborate gothic window, also mahogany with stained glass, in their upstairs bedroom.

The newest project will be a domed-roof custom conservatory situated off their second floor master bedroom. It will replace an aging and poorly built sunroom that has been an eyesore for years. The room that is adjacent to the new conservatory will get the same mahogany paneling as before and the windows in the new conservatory will feature elaborate mahogany and stained glass patterns as well.

Coupled with the new conservatory room upstairs will be a rather unique bay window in the existing kitchen. It will have a rolled copper roof and base along with mahogany and stained glass windows to match the rest of the work.

Both these new additions are fun projects as their unusual designs will make a huge impact on the appearance and functionality of their home.

I’ll post pictures of these unique conservatories as we progress.

Alan

Yesterday, Nancy and I visited with some friends who are planning a conservatory addition to their suburban home. We met with them and the general contractor they had selected to work on the project which includes the custom conservatory, a swimming pool enclosure for an endless pool located below the new conservatory and an exercise room adjacent to the indoor swimming pool enclosure.

When we arrived, they were struggling with a thorny planning issue involving the floor heights of the new rooms below the conservatory.

Since the existing home has several steps going down into the living room which is the room the new conservatory will be attached to, to achieve adequate head height in the swimming pool enclosure below, the floor level would end up being below the level of a small but charming outdoor patio they loved.

No one liked the idea of having to step up from floor of the pool enclosure and exercise rooms to get outside to the patio. This would create a potential problem with water tending to run into the new rooms so a number of elaborate schemes were being discussed to alleviate the problem when Nancy and I arrived.

Of importance to our friends was that the floor levels of the new lower rooms, the swimming pool enclosure and the exercise room be on the same level with the outside patio so that the spaces flowed smoothly one into the other. The concept was that all three spaces would feel as if they were extensions of each other.

We joined the discussion, looked at the outside of the house where the patio was and thought, maybe a simple solution would be to just lower the patio a bit. After all, it was not a large patio and some of the brickwork looked like it might need repair anyway. With lots of other construction and excavation going on right next to it, it might need to get rebuilt anyway.

After some discussion, we all agreed that was the best solution as it would preserve the simplicity of the design concept of the three spaces.

Now, on to the conservatory part of the project.

Alan

We recently received an email from Ken Tate, the project architect for the large renovation project that incorporated a Tanglewood Conservatories steel and glass pool pavilion. Ken is a pretty high level architect and has been named as one of the top 100 architects by Architectural Digest magazine. It was for the project that was featured in Architectural Digest magazine in June and included a full page interior picture of the custom pool house we designed and built.

Ken wanted us to have a testimonial from him and wrote:

“My experiences with Tanglewood Conservatories have been exceptional ones…from the early design and coordination phase, to the shop drawing and construction phases. Tanglewood is a couture conservatory company, meaning that every detail is custom designed and all shop construction is overseen personally by the owner Alan Stein himself! And Alan, being an architect, is always refining the smallest details. My first project with Tanglewood was featured in “Architectural Digest “ (July 2010 page 89) as part of a feature article on the house that the conservatory was attached to. So, the “proof-is-in-the-pudding”.

Ken Tate Architect

Aside from just being a great recommendation and making us feel really good, Ken points to one of the defining features of Tanglewood Conservatories. While many conservatory builders refer to themselves as “custom” or “bespoke”, what they are mainly commenting on is their ability to mix and match their standard parts to make different looking conservatories.

What we did for Ken was to conceive an entirely new way to build a conservatory, using entirely new materials – steel and glass instead of wood, based on his desire to have an “old world” steel and glass conservatory.

The fact that Tanglewood Conservatories is willing and able to explore with architects and clients how best to achieve their vision without limitation– no matter where it leads, is what makes the company’s approach completely unique.

Yes, other conservatory builders make conservatories that look like some of ours and we make some that look like theirs, but Tanglewood is pretty unique when it comes to our ability to listen to our clients, both their expressed desires as well as the not as obvious ones and to build rooms that capture the essence of their dream in great ways they had not even thought of.

Alan

I hope everyone has had a chance to look at the new video’s we’ve posted in the video section of our site. They are also linked from our Homepage in the area called Latest Video.

The ones titled “A View Inside –
Tanglewood recreates the grand conservatory at Biltmore Estate” are very interesting. Part One shows a very unique conservatory project being created in our workshop and Part Two shows the installation of the same custom conservatory on the jobsite. It gives everyone more of an insight as to how our beautiful conservatories are created.

This particular custom conservatory had as it’s inspiration, the great historic conservatories at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina. On the estate are several conservatories, the one on the main house which is just off the main entrance hall being the one that the owner of this latest Tanglewood conservatory project fell in love with and wanted Tanglewood to recreate.

The other classic conservatories are in the garden and serve horticultural purposes. These are beautiful steel and glass greenhouses much like many of the other grand conservatories of the age.

The video titled: “The Design Process-
Working together with clients to create their dream conservatory” is about how our process works with a client when we are designing their conservatory. This is the story of our journey with the owners to create their dream conservatory. It is the one shown in our Conservatory Gallery at: http://www.tanglewoodconservatories.com/ourportfolio/green-house.htm

From our first meeting with Molly and Michael, it was clear that theirs would be a most unusual project. They were actually looking for a custom designed greenhouse at first but after visiting Tanglewood’s workshop decided in favor of one of our beautiful mahogany conservatories instead. The custom greenhouse would come later.

I hope everyone takes a look at these videos.

Alan

The June issue of Architectural Digest included a photograph of a unique swimming pool enclosure designed and built by Tanglewood Conservatories.

Included in the recent issue of Architectural Digest magazine is a feature on a large renovation project by Louisiana-based architect Ken Tate. The project includes a very unique conservatory which he commissioned Tanglewood to design and build. The full page image on p. 89 shows off the steel and glass pool pavilion that Tanglewood designed specially for this project

The architect had approached Tanglewood Conservatories with the request for a pool house conservatory which he insisted be constructed with steel and glass instead of the more traditional material for custom conservatories – wood.

When Ken first approached Tanglewood for some help with his project, he was unsure how the conservatory pool enclosure could be done in all steel, but trusted our team enough to let us run with the design work. He had some images in his mind but had no idea how it could be built.

After some discussion with Ken and the client about the design direction and other important factors to the design, we set to work. This initial phase of the work took about four weeks. We produced drawings for Ken to review, then went back and forth refining the concept.

When Ken first saw our initial design for the pool enclosure, he was completely enthralled. He hadn’t imagined how we could have designed the steel and glass pool pavilion conservatory the way we did and he was delighted with Tanglewood’s unconventional approach and design expertise.

Following his acceptance of Tanglewood’s pool house design, we worked together to resolve the many construction issues having to do with how the conservatory connects to the rest of the house, how it is set on the foundation and how all the small details would come together. Ken was one of the most detail oriented architects we’ve ever worked with but the close collaboration yielded a most remarkable project!

Mutual respect was the key to our success. Ken obviously had a great deal of respect for Tanglewood’s many years of experience in the design and construction of custom conservatories and we absolutely loved Ken’s work and were thrilled to be able to contribute to one of his great projects.

This project is really not much different from many of our other commissions. Tanglewood is hired by some of the best architects in the world because they can see our dedication to great design work and our vast experience within the highly specialized niche of traditional conservatory design. The fact that we are completely comfortable working with steel, bronze, wood or many of the other materials they might choose to use is a great benefit to them.

On our side, we make the commitment to them that we will produce an exceptional, innovative high quality building in a time sensitive and a cost efficient manner. We realize that one of our most important jobs is to make them look great.

The interior picture of the pool house is on page 89 of the magazine.

Ken paid us a big complement on seeing the steel and glass pool pavilion the first time. He said: “Extraordinary, I just want to tell you that I think it is fabulous. I think of how great your quality is, it’s absolutely extraordinary and I hope you love it as well!”

Thanks Ken. The project is a great one!

Alan

The annual convention of the American Institute of Architects, this year held in Miami, wrapped up last week after four days of seminars, workshops and exhibitions.

Attendance seemed to down quite a bit from years past however the strong program was welcomed by everyone I spoke with. Many attendees make a point of coming for the continuing education credits available.

Our attendance gave us a great opportunity to get out and about the fashionable South Beach historic district.

Running right through town is Ocean Drive, a hip see and be seen corridor of cool shops, eateries overflowing the sidewalks and super cool hotels.

The coolest by far is the elegant and historic Delano Hotel, originally named in honor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and renovated in the mid 1990’s with Madonna as a partner.

Entry to the main lobby is gained through archways in the mature topiary which encloses the entire front of the hotel and sets the stage for the magical, surreal interior. Once inside, twenty-foot tall, white sheer drapes divide the cavernous hall in to intimately crafted “stage sets” of elegant variety. Sparsely decorated with the most unusual of pieces, a fantasy atmosphere somewhere between Alice in Wonderland and the Arabian Nights flows through onto to the back patio, down the wide grassy steps to a lawn surrounded by a village of private cabanas and then out to the pool.

Palm-tree lined Ocean Drive is also lined with an amazing concentration of tropical, Art Deco architecture, the largest in the world. The entire Deco District consists of about 800 of these remarkable pastel treasures originally built in the 1920’s through 1940’s.

The entire, wonderfully eclectic concoction of pink, peach, lavender and teal buildings is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the buildings are small to midsized hotels with restaurants and shops at street level.

I noticed an interesting feature on many of the buildings. At first glance, they appeared to be decorated with beautiful, subtly shaded marble panels. However as I got closer, I realized it was actually coral, not marble, I suspect cut from the tropical reefs offshore!

The entire South Beach area is a unique national treasure, so purely American, a must stop on any tour of great Americana.

Alan

Here are some pictures of the interior structural steel for a new greenhouse project we are working on.

This project features both a fully functional greenhouse as well as a conservatory. The greenhouse will be used to grow all manner of flora while the attached conservatory will be devoted to their display.

The exposed steel structure is a typical feature of larger scale greenhouses, its robust character and construction often celebrated as it was in the old train station architecture. Here, the structure is used to support a much lighter weight “skin” consisting of wood windows and glass panels which gives the greenhouse an airy transparency both in reality and effect.

The steel columns and beams are fabricated with a decorative patterning which adds interesting detail and contributes to lightening the overall effect.

I will continue to post progress pictures on this very unique project – one of the most unusual greenhouses and conservatories Tanglewood has ever designed.

Many people ask the question: What is the difference between a conservatory and a greenhouse? Quite simply, no matter what the architectural style or construction materials, a greenhouse is intended for plants while a conservatory is intended for people.

Not that a beautiful greenhouse, especially a beautiful, romantic antique greenhouse or soaring glass-roofed palm house, such as the one above is designed to be, doesn’t invite one inside to bask in the rarity and quietude of its magnificent tropical setting.

Most of the custom greenhouses Tanglewood has designed and built have been used extensively for both planting and people. A beautiful greenhouse filled with exotic specimens, as was also done in years past, make great party rooms. In Victorian times, the romanticism of the conservatory greenhouse was in striking contract to the formality of everyday life. Images abound of delightful pursuits inside the conservatory.

Many a Tanglewood greenhouse began with an idea for a mere potting shed or cultivation house, then grew and flourished to become a magnificent botanical greenhouse. A singular sanctuary for its owners to retreat to or entertain in as suits their pleasure.

Many greenhouses have specialized mechanical systems to facilitate the horticulture. Whether it be a misting system, specialized lighting, heating or sun shading, each unique greenhouse project requires something special – the same as all our projects.

Alan

Drew Greenblatt, CEO Marlin Steel Wire Products, myself, Greg Moores, Senior Product Designer, DeWalt tools, and Mike Galliazo, Founder of the Regional Manufacturing Institute at our presentation to the Woodworking Industry Conference.

My recent trip to Monterey, California was a huge success. I was invited to participate in the Woodworking Industry Conference as a panelist discussing “Going $ Green; What woodworking companies are doing to become green”.

Conference attendees were interested to hear about Tanglewood’s multifaceted approach to sustainability and green issues. We feel it is important to keep pushing our conservatory company to become better stewards of the environment and the resources we use.

At the conference, I spoke about our efforts to become a completely paperless company, to reuse as much of our scrap material as possible, to utilize raw materials form sustainable sources and to incorporate cutting edge technology into our products and processes.

One of the most exciting aspects of our push towards greater green is the introduction of existing green technologies into our projects. The use of photovoltaic’s is a great example. There are presently glass products on the market that act both as photovoltaic generation panels and semi-transparent panes of glass that can be incorporated into the roof or windows of a “green” conservatory. This technology has been available for several years and is getting better all the time.

One client recently approached us with a request to use such a product in his conservatory design and we were able to locate a source and design it into his conservatory.

At the conference, I also spoke about other opportunities for incorporating green technologies into our conservatories through the inclusion of products already fairly commonplace in buildings such as geothermal heating and cooling, LED lighting and wind turbines for electricity generation. The object of using these products is to lessen the energy impact of a conservatory (or any other type of building) project.

There is already a lot of interest in this kind of inclusive broad based approach to the greening of our projects.

These kinds of specialized solutions fit well with Tanglewood’s design philosophy which values the complete flexibility to respond to each customer’s unique requests whether technological, architectural or functional.

Alan

An architectural rendering showing the new conservatory and greenhouse on the right side of this home.

This really cool project that we’ve recently begun work on is actually two projects in one. Attached to the client’s house is a new conservatory, then attached to the custom conservatory (with a bell shaped dome) is a new greenhouse.

The architect on the project contacted us and sent drawings of a scheme he developed and asked for some guidance.

We realized that the trick to designing these two great spaces was to make them relate to each other yet at the same time, be expressive of their very different functions. The conservatory (on the left) is a wood structure while the greenhouse (to the right) uses an exposed steel structural system. We wanted the two adjoining rooms to be quite different. A conservatory is usually used as a living space. People are the primary inhabitants. A greenhouse is for plants, though a wonderful place for people to spend time as well.

Many people will try to use a conservatory as a greenhouse because they like the beautiful details and design of conservatories and there are not many greenhouse products available that have the same level of attention given to their design. Historically, the great conservatories of the nineteenth century were all horticultural houses. Only in the last thirty years did the idea of using a “conservatory” as a living room type space become popular (and feasible).

Working with the architect, we produced drawings of several design solutions and met with the entire team to decide which was best. We gave the greenhouse the same degree of design effort as the custom conservatory.

For example, we created eyebrow windows, a very unusual and distinctive feature for the greenhouse, on each side of the new room, with the lapped glass domed roof curving above them.

We will be following the progress of this unique job through the shop and will continue to keep everyone posted on our work.

Alan