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

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

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

The cover of DuPont REGISTRY showing the magnificent Foxburg estate now for sale.

The Riverstone estate, with one of our most loved and commented on custom conservatory projects, is up for sale. It is a magnificent 1,200 acre property located in Foxburg Pennsylvania. The beautiful conservatory is attached to a historic mansion dating back to 1828. It is one of the most historic properties in the area, the original house was built by the Fox family, prominent Philadelphians who were descended from George M. Fox, the founder of the Quaker religion. The Tanglewood conservatory was added during a major renovation of the property in 2000 and has won several design awards and has been featured in numerous publications.

The property encompasses an amazing twenty-six outbuildings including extensive equestrian facilities, greenhouses, an aviary and many additional residences. One of the most notable of the buildings on the property is an original carriage house designed by the well known Philadelphia architect Frank Furness 1839 – 1912. The building is a rare example of Furness’ work outside the Philadelphia and surrounding area and speaks to the exceptional importance of the Fox family, the town of Foxburg and this estate in particular.

The current owners pieced the estate back together purchasing the parcels of land that had been sold off over the years and completely rebuilding the historic mansion.

Foxburg is a charming small town about an hour and a half north east of Pittsburgh which has undergone nothing short of a miraculous renaissance in large part due to the efforts of the property’s owners who have invested heavily in the town. An arts center which brings major performances from Pittsburgh, a winery, hotel and restaurants are nestled along the steep banks of the Allegheny river just a stone’s throw from Interstate 80.

I wrote about one of my many visits to the town back in September 2009 when I just happened to be there for an amazing concert by the Harold Betters Quartet.

One of the really unique features of the mansion is that when the owners undertook the renovation, they decided to have each of the major rooms built out in a different species of naturally finished wood.

There is a grand entrance hall with paneling and an amazing staircase made from tiger maple, a library completely finished in Brazilian rosewood, bedrooms of beautifully detailed chestnut and of course the stunning mahogany conservatory. Several Tiffany stained glass panels also grace the home as the owners are avid collectors of art glass and antique lamps.

There are an amazing 17 working fireplaces in the home – all also rebuilt out of different species of woods to match the rooms they are in.

The property itself is more than stunning. Steep wooded banks drop a hundred feet or more to the rivers edge which is completely undeveloped. There is almost ten miles of pristine riverfront as the acreage is bounded by both the Allegheny and the Clarion rivers. Unusual for any private setting east of the Mississippi, from most places along the riverfront, not a sign of human habitation or development is seen.

There are bucolic rolling pastures – evidence of the former fairways of an old golf course, acres of dense woodlands, cool forest glades, gardens and rocky outcroppings overlooking spectacular views up and down the rivers.

You can check out the property which is listed on the market at $25M and view pictures at Riverstone Estate.

There is a page with an amazing aerial photograph of the developed portion of the estate with all the buildings noted with letters. It looks like an entire village somewhere in the French countryside. On the right side of the picture, you can click on the items on the Structures List and see pictures of each of the buildings.

I particularly like the Alpaca Barn and the Dovecote, which is also seen in the picture of the West (alpha) Barn, and the very unusual Aviary (for the peacocks). The aviary was designed and built by the owner and if you look closely you can see he used sawed off end sections of cedar logs set into mortar for the wall structure. It’s really cool.

The Equestrian Complex with its gambrel roofed barns of course takes the cake.

Anyone interested?

Alan

One of our new conservatories that encloses a large indoor swimming pool has made it onto the website LUXIST.COM, a watch listing of all things luxurious. We’re at the top in a section titled “The Classicist”. There’s all kinds of interesting and semi-interesting stuff on this website. The site is:

http://www.luxist.com/2010/01/11/the-classicist-tanglewood-conservatories-turn-of-the-century-s/

Looking up into the cupola

Pictures looking up into the cupola of the steel structure of the swimming pool enclosure.
A detail of the steel structure

Here are some pictures of the old world steel and glass swimming pool conservatory we are building as it nears completion – and with winter fast approaching, it’s not a day too soon.

The great room is now completely weather tight so all remaining work on the inside can proceed unhindered.

Now with scaffolding down and out of the way, the majesty of the structure begins to come into view.

The cast iron and steel parts with their forged curls and intricate rosettes make a tantalizingly reminiscent image that could be right out of a history book on the great glass houses of the nineteenth century. This was our intention from the start. In fact, it was the great glass conservatory at Syon Park which was the original inspiration for the design.

When complete, it will be filled with palm trees and make for one of the most unique custom pool houses Tanglewood Conservatories has ever built.

On the exterior, all of the windows and doors are installed and you can see the wonderful stained glass panels in place. All that is required is the final trim parts to be put on and the stone veneer to be laid up and this will have to wait for springtime and warmer weather.

The construction of this steel and glass conservatory house is a huge undertaking with the conservatory an important part, but only one of many really unique features. Final completion is not expected for another two years!

My other favorite feature of this mega-home is the thirty-five foot long shark tank. When the home is complete, you will descend a curving stairway to a lower level recreation center with the sharks on one side of you and a waterfall that spills over the edge of the swimming pool on the other side.

The theme of much of the home is water which makes sense since the home is situated with exquisite views out across a busy northern waterway.

You can see more pictures of the progress of this remarkable conservatory pool enclosure project at a new page on our website titled “Steel Structures”.

Also included on the page are images of the construction of several other very unique projects, one in particular, the magnificent greenhouse with the curving glass roof that is shown completed on the Antique Greenhouse page.

It is the greenhouse conservatory that is featured in the Washington Spaces article “Enchanted Estate” that was the subject of my previous blog.

Alan

These are two of the stained glass panels that will accent the large steel and glass pool house conservatory under construction right now.

Mehmet, who designed the glass patterns, as well as the incredible conservatory structure itself, is standing there holding up the pieces in front of our building in Denton.

The design of the custom stained glass panels is one of his favorite elements to design. He is interested not only in the wonderful patterns made by the different colors and shapes of the glass itself, but more important he feels, is the ever-changing panorama of colored light which is thrown into the interior of the conservatory space.

This adds a mystical quality to the room, he says. He will typically design the conservatory building first, then work on the stained glass designs after the overall concept for the room is complete. The stained glass design is done in pencil or ink first, with his preferred colors in his mind, then he works with the homeowner or architect to choose the final colors for the scheme.

This design features a combination of colored glass with clear beveled glass and antique stressed glass features. There are six of the large gables and eight of the tall sidelights in the poolside conservatory.

Sometimes when we make stained glass panels, they are encapsulated inside an insulated glass unit (IG unit as called in the industry) so that they are completely protected from the elements. This has the advantage of protecting the stained glass artwork and also dramatically increasing the insulating value of the glass, however, some people feel that you loose the tactile proximity of the art since it is “displayed” behind a clear glass panel. The argument takes on weight when you think about how the reflections in the glass “cover” panel obscure to some degree the colors and texture of the stained glass and the lead caming in between.

The alternative, if using the stained glass panels simply as a single glazed window is not an option, is to expose the beauty of the stained glass to the inside of the room while covering it with a piece of insulated glass on the exterior of the building.

This gives the boost in insulation value and energy efficiency while at the same time preserving the beauty and the tactile sense of the stained glass on the inside of the room where it will be enjoyed the most. The exterior look and feel is still compromised from the purist point of view.

One really neat thing that we frequently do is to back light the stained glass art panel so that it glows at night. A small LED light or a fiber optic cable (if the space is too tight) does the trick. This is an effect you must see to appreciate!

Alan

Tanglewood installation team enjoying a sunny break atop the cupola of the large steel and glass pool house conservatory under construction.

They are on top of the world, the job is going well!

The old-world, steel and glass pool enclosure that we are constructing is coming along quite well. Last week, the cupola was completed on our custom conservatory and the finish coat of paint put on to protect it from the fast approaching cold northern weather.

The dark bronze/grey color was chosen for the conservatory roof because it will blend well with the slate roof that will go onto the main house. Originally, copper was under consideration however costs and the desire for it to blend dictated the choice of a specially colored, powder coated aluminum.

Next week, the glazing of the lower main roof will begin in earnest. The large glass panels will arrive on site in wood crates the day before the work is to begin. The next day, a large crane will hoist each piece of glass, some weighing almost 300 pounds, into place on the roof using special equipment designed to set large pieces of glass high up.

The special lifting mechanism is a steel frame fitted with a small battery operated vacuum pump which sucks the air out of special rubber “cups” which are also attached to the frame, then “stick” to the glass panel allowing it to be hoisted up by the crane without danger.

The process usually proceeds remarkable quickly and safely though it can be a bit disconcerting to watch these large pieces of glass sailing through the air!

I will get some pictures of the process and post them for everyone to see. It is very interesting.

Though the room looks quite unfinished at this point, It is actually nearing completion. Once the glass roof panels are in place and sealed, the main level windows and doors will be installed and then the final trimwork put up for a finished project.

One of the great features of this particular room is the custom designed stained glass panels that will ornament the windows and doors. The intricate designs were created by us working closely with the owners and their designer. There are subtle patterns of color throughout which will add a magical effect to the overall atmosphere. I will post images of these as well as soon as they get installed.

Though sun and t-shirts prevail for the moment, we are actually racing to get the project completely weather tight before the cold weather sets in. On a large job such as this, there can be some anxious moments if everything doesn’t go just right at this time of year in the north. Metals become hard to handle in the cold and the special sealants used to make the glass roof weather tight cannot be applied below certain temperatures.

For now, it looks very good though. I will keep everyone posted on our progress.

Alan

The start of fabrication: The copper cupola for mahogany conservatory roof lantern takes shape.

Another of the many interesting conservatory projects Tanglewood is working on right now is a large conservatory, or it might be more of an orangerie, that is fashioned after the beautiful conservatory at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina.

The Biltmore mansion is one of the largest private homes ever built in the United States. It encloses 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The grounds of the original 125,000-acre estate were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the famous landscape architect who also created New York’s City’s Central Park.

If you look at a picture of the front of the Biltmore house, the conservatory is located just to the right side of the main entry on the opposite side from the iconic stair tower with the diagonal windows. It is an extraordinary room with huge, ornately moulded oak truss beams supporting a glass roof and cupola. The entire roof structure is covered with copper on the exterior.

There is another often photographed greenhouse conservatory on the estate which is located in the garden but it is more of an industrial type building made of steel trusses supported on brick walls.

Our client, who is also building a sizable estate in the rural mountains, had visited the Biltmore Estate in part to gather ideas for their new home. One of the rooms they saw that captured their imagination was the unusual garden room conservatory, the design of which they decided to incorporate into theirs.

So the task of adapting the great conservatory garden room at the Biltmore Estate into our clients design fell to Tanglewood’s team working under the overall direction of the project architect. What emerged is a truly remarkable piece of craftsmanship which is just now taking shape in the Tanglewood workshop.

The interior of the entire structure in this case will be made from Honduran Mahogany which will be stained a deep rich tone and the entire exterior, including the windows themselves, is made of copper with soldered joinery.

Large ornately-moulded mahogany beams are being constructed and will be used to support the roof structure, as in the Biltmore conservatory.

I will post more pictures and descriptions of the work on the main structure as it progresses.

Alan

This is a conceptual design drawing of Tanglewood’s old world pool house conservatory now under construction in the Midwest about which I talked in my earlier blog posting.

In addition to the remarkable ornate steel and cast iron structure which supports the building, the exterior “skin” incorporates a host of custom designed stained glass panels that are reminiscent of Victorian era designs.

Just to give a sense of scale, from the floor to the top of the glass cupola ridge is almost forty feet high.

The first phase of the project installation is now complete and our crew will be returning to start phase two next week.

By the end of the first trip, the entire steel structure was in place, as was the framework for the lower roof and parts of the cupola roof lantern. The main walls for the custom pool enclosure were also up with some of the exterior trim complete.

Phase two will start with the completion of the roof lantern, trim work and the start of the roof glazing, then continue with work on the lower roof. Installation of the beautiful stained glass windows and doors will wait for the final trip.

Those are limestone stone columns supporting the three large pediments over the doors.

The cupola roof lantern, which is fifty feet long and twenty feet wide, was originally going to be hoisted into place in one piece using huge steel support beams and two large cranes however we decided not to risk the feat and it is now being built in pieces.

This is a huge new home that is scheduled to take another three years to finish so it will be a while before the swimming pool will be filled and the pool house enclosure complete.

Alan