TimberWindows.com is pleased to announce the launch of The English Glasshouse.

The company, which produces bespoke timber orangeries and conservatories, as well as roof lanterns and pool houses, is already setting new standards for the industry.

With each building constructed individually to suit not only the style of house, but also to take into account the preferences and style of the Owner - the fact that there is nothing mass-produced is obvious.

The honest charm and character that shines through is unmistakable.
Whether you’re looking for something contemporary or traditional and whatever size your home, The English Glasshouse can create a garden room for you that will not only add value to your property, but will also change the way you live at home.

Giles Henman, Conservatory Director of TimberWindows.com, says: “Our mission, with The English Glasshouse, has been to bring 21st century standards of insulation and security, while not compromising on design and ensuring each English Glasshouse requires little maintenance and is built to last.

“We have taken the very best American, Scandinavian and European technology and married it with peerless British design, to create glass buildings that are both beautiful and a joy to live with.”

Conservatories and orangeries by The English Glasshouse are the only ones in the UK to be manufactured exclusively from engineered hardwood (multi-layered timber sections laid out at opposing grains) and oak, ensuring many problems usually associated with wood, such as warping and twisting, have been eliminated.

The English Glasshouse offers a unique guarantee of up to 30 years and prides itself on building strong relationships and offering the very best customer service.

To view the stunning range of bespoke glasshouses and orangeries, please visit the English Glasshouse website.

Tel: (0845) 652 7365.

With homeowners looking to maximise entertainment opportunities within their own four walls, and the increasing need for the type of relaxation that comes with reading a good book, those who can, are choosing to install home libraries to safely store their treasured tomes.

Yiangou Architects has designed a variety of libraries, dependent on client style and requirements, and in some cases has had to think outside the box to maximise the space available.

The Yiangou Architects’ standards and aspirations are as high as yours; their aim is to help create some of the most considered and well-crafted buildings in the country.

Whatever the building project you have in mind Yiangou Architects aspire to bring to the task a combination of creative flair, rigorously applied professional expertise and comprehensive management that will ensure a successful outcome.

The practice is based on the principle that design is nothing without delivery!

Yiangou Architects are able to provide a complete service; their talented team encompasses all the skills - creative, technical and administrative - to ensure coherence and good communication, from start to finish.

Address: Suite 5 Dyer House, 3 Dyer Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire.

For more information about a complete architectural service, please visit the Yiangou Architects website.

Tel: (01285) 888150

With the current unpredictable property market in the UK, many homeowners are improving what they have rather than sell.

Investing in their existing property can not only make the living space more appropriate to their needs, but it may also increase its future sale potential.

One area that is proving very popular is to add an extension - but where to start?

Specialist builder Symm offers some guidance:

• Seek professional advice from a property expert on what would make your property even more desirable.
• Think about what use the extra space will give you. Many people opt for another bedroom when actually a second bathroom or an enlarged kitchen would add more value.
• Consider the position of the extension both internally and externally. Where will it fit seamlessly with the external faces of the house, yet work with the internal flow of rooms?
• Think carefully about how you would ideally like the extension to be designed. A well designed space will not only work practically and aesthetically, but it should also be sympathetic to the existing building. The extension should look great AND add value.
• Ensure there is enough space in the garden to accommodate your desired extension, without compromising the visual balance.
• Which way will your extension face? Consider the light.
• Choose an architect and builder at the very beginning to ensure the smooth progression of the project. A highly trained team will advise on such issues as planning permission, materials needed to match the existing building, mechanical and electrical work and access points.
• Don’t forget that the many processes involved in getting the project off the ground can take time. With the design process, planning permission and actual construction you may have to make temporary adjustments to the way you live in the property.

Working in Oxford, London, the Cotswolds and southern England, as well as projects as far afield as New York, Symm’s expertise includes specialist and general building, joinery, decoration, restoration, project management, stonemasonry and mechanical services.

For more information on Symm’s broad range of building skills visit the website.

With the trend for people improving not moving, more properties are undertaking full makeovers including extensions.

A stylish way to extend, and one that is fast replacing the garden room or conservatory, is to add an orangery to a property to create a light filled room with an interesting story.

Garden room specialist Westbury Conservatories has seen a dramatic increase of requests over the last year from clients looking for a romantic, nostalgic solution to their expanding family needs.

Typically classical in style, these rooms usually combine masonry, timber and glass and though traditionally used for storing delicate citrus plants, their use is now far more fluid. Family rooms, dining areas, kitchens and offices all work well in this space.

It seems orangeries are gaining in popularity, as they are not only beautiful but practical too:

• With limited glazing to the roof an orangery is less prone to temperature fluctuations typical of a conservatory.

• Westbury’s orangeries are also roofed with a single-ply polymeric membrane, which creates a lifelong leak-proof seamless finish and also works to insulate the room.

• Recent changes to planning laws also mean that an original rear wall can be extended up to 4 metres deep before planning permission is required, making an orangery an ideal next step to adding space to a property.

Westbury’s design team works with the client to create an extension that is sympathetic to the existing property. This is then handcrafted by Westbury’s in-house joinery department based in Essex.

Clients then either choose to use their own builder to create the foundations and basework, or Westbury’s building team can undertake this as part of the overall orangery installation.

Westbury’s orangeries are great value too, starting at £40,000 for all design, building works and finishing.

Visit the Westbury website to view the stunning choice of orangery designs.

Tel: 01371 876576

Some 32 per cent of prospective homebuyers say that proximity to a good school is an important factor when buying a new property, according to customer research from Barratt Homes.

So now Britain’s leading housebuilder has teamed-up with the Good Schools Guide to give parents who are looking for a new home the opportunity to research the best schools in the catchment area at the same time.

Visitors to Barratt Homes website simply enter a location, postcode or the name of the development in which they are interested and then have the option of asking for more information on nearby schools.

The Good Schools Guide search engine then generates a list of the nearest schools. Parents can filter the search by age-range (nursery, primary and secondary), or type (mainstream and special needs).

By clicking on a school’s name, parents can instantly access details such as the number of pupils and the percentages passing exams in English, Maths and Science as well as Key Stage 2 statistics. For those who want to find out more in-depth information, the school’s website and contact details are also listed.
Written by parents for parents, the Good Schools Guide is widely recognised as one of the most authoritative and independent education resources available today.

“Schools are a major consideration when we buy land to build our developments,” said Jeremy Hipkiss, Head of Sales and Marketing at Barratt Homes.

“We understand that parents want the very best for their children and that often it’s the school that dictates where they live - not the other way round.”

“We are introducing this service now because parents who plan to move in time for the new school year, often start house-hunting during the Spring selling season. We believe that our school-finder will give them a head start.”

Barratt Homes have a number of new homes available throughout the country.

Pictured here is: The Limes, South Milford – Yorkshire, a new range of luxury homes.

For further information on current available properties, please visit http://www.barratthomes.co.uk/Find-A-Home

Tel: Sales enquiries (0844) 5566166

Features of home automation systems such as the Comfort Intelligent Home System from Cytech Europe, can provide a major input to the Lifetime Homes Standard, as well as to Assistive Living and the homebuilding industry’s targets for Sustainable Homes, in line with the new mandatory regulations.

Benefits offered by the Comfort System include:

• Interactive Voice Menu that can operate in any of nine languages allows Comfort to be controlled from any remote or home telephone. The real time status of the lights and appliances can be announced so you can check before switching anything on or off.

• Reminder Messages and Voice Announcements Triggered by Events: Comfort can be set to play back recorded reminder messages on talking keypads, or the telephone to remind the user to take medicine, for example, as a wake-up call, or to warn if any motion is detected in the home.

• Dial Out to Alert Carers: Comfort dials out to carers or family members, if there is no activity in the home for a longer than usual period of time. The carer can talk to the person in the house via any of the keypads. An emergency button on the keypad can force a dial out to the carer or family member.

• Conditional Logic Programming; Comfort’s extensive Logic Programming capabilities allow conditions to be tested up in order to determine the actions to be taken; for example, after dark, and the doorbell is pressed, switch on outside lights and play an announcement, or greeting message on the door station, and announce on the keypad that a visitor is at the door.

• Intercom: Comfort’s talking keypads communicate with other keypads around the home and with the door station.

• Home Security: The range of Comfort door stations including those with a camera, let the person at home speak with the visitor and also see them before opening the door. The door can be opened via any phone or keypad in the house.

• Heating, Lighting, Appliances, Curtains, Blinds can all be monitored and controlled by Comfort to help with energy-saving, home security and convenience.

For further information visit:

Web: http://www.cytech-europe.co.uk

House prices are starting to rise, private sector building applications are significantly up, plots of land are selling quickly.

All good news for The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show, on at the NEC from 18th to 21st March, and the biggest self build and renovation consumer event in the UK, attracting over 40,000 visitors each year.

“There is definitely a growing optimism amongst the self-build community,” said Jason Orme, Editor of Homebuilding & Renovating magazine. “House prices have increased, particularly in the South East, and houses are selling faster, releasing the capital many homeowners need to finance their building project.”

This confidence in the self-build market is mirrored by recent comments from Vicky Bayliss, Manager of www.plotfinder.net, a comprehensive online land-finding service. “Plots of land, including those that have been around for a while, are now selling quickly, particularly over the last few months. We expect this trend to continue throughout 2010.”

Latest figures from NHBC, covering September to November 2009, reveal that the number of private sector applications (commercial and domestic) to build new homes in the UK were up by 74% to 18,617 from 10,719 during the same period in 2008.

With the opportunity to acquire an individually designed home and achieve a potential saving of up to 30% compared to the cost of buying a similar sized house, it is hardly surprising that the self-build route is an increasingly attractive option.

Whether you are self-building, renovating, extending or wanting to make the most of your home, now is a great time to visit The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show.

The Show offers over 450 exhibitors, 112 free seminars and masterclasses, The Eco Home Show, ‘Ask the Experts’, Independent Advice Areas and much more.

The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show is on at the NEC, Birmingham, from 18th to 21st March 2010.

For more information and tickets, visit www.homebuildingshow.co.uk.
Tickets are £10 in advance, by calling (0844) 5811377

or £14 on the door (children under 16 go free).

Geoff Collier has developed a selection of striking brass pieces, ideal for either traditional or contemporary interiors.

The new brass collections website showcases their ‘Period lighting’ and ‘Shell’ Collections, which offer the consumer a selection of specialist items to suit a variety of interior looks and tastes.

The Exclusive Lighting Collection is a varied range of products including table lamps, Floor lamps, Ceiling lights and Wall lights, all produced from in-house designs and original patterns, dating from the early 19th century onwards.

The products, from grand art deco wall lights to contemporary bedside lamps are handcrafted by skilled artisans, featuring intricate detail, such as traditional fine chiselling and punch-work.

The Shell Collection is a contemporary interpretation of organic sea-life forms, transformed into highly original door furniture, window accessories and lighting.
From sea urchin door-knobs in nickel, to Cone shell curtain pole finials; this range would be ideal for a sea-side residence, yacht or modern home.

The Neo-Palladio Collection is also due to be launched within the next few months.

Geoff Collier is proud to produce the very highest standards of craftsmanship for their clients, including many leading Interior Designers, Architects and Antique Dealers who commission them with bespoke pieces as well as large scale manufacturing contracts.

Visit the Geoff Collier Collections website to be inspired.

Tel: 020 7373 8888

Whether you’re building a home from scratch, doing some serious home improvements, converting renovating an old property to create a stylish new home, The National Self Build & Renovation Show (February 26 – 28th) at Lydiard Fields, Swindon is a must!

Each day, the Show has four theatres hosting seminars from more than 25 specialists; live demos featuring installations of hardwood flooring,
wood-burning stoves, insulated brick-slip cladding, and living roofs.

Walking workshops through the self build education zone and over 250 companies showcasing their products; plus and one-to-one appointments with over 20 industry experts and professionals.

As one of the most popular events in the National Self Build & Renovation Centre’s calendar, you can expect to see all the big names, such as:
Potton, Wolseley, Velux, EDF Energy, Framewise, Baxi, VillaVent, and Eurobrick.

The experts on hand to share their self build and renovation wisdom include:
Architects, project managers, Building Control officers, SAP Assessors, mortgage advisors, and CAD Designers.

For free tickets and more information, visit the Buildstore website.

Tel: (0845) 223 4455

December sees the introduction of one of the most highly powered multi-tools on the market - the Dremel 4000.

Capable of handling a very broad range of projects with increased ease, its 175watt motor and unique new attachments, make it the most powerful and versatile rotary tool ever launched by Dremel featuring:

• The Dremel 4000 has full variable speed control of between 5,000 - 35,000 rpm giving it the widest speed range.

• There is a separate on/off switch with integrated collet lock-out function, so there is no accidental activation of the collet lock.

• A new nose cap that is specifically designed for better pencil grip, a hanger ball, plus superb ergonomics and soft grip for better handling.

• Electronic feedback control offers consistent power, as it senses workloads and adjusts to maintain tool speed.

• Replaceable motor brushes extend motor life and a larger fan motor keeps the tool cool.

Compared to the current 400 Series Digital, the new Dremel 4000 has no less than six major benefits:

• The power has been increased by a massive 25% from 140 watts to 175 watts. There are improved ergonomics. Two unique attachments have been introduced - the Shaping Platform in our picture, and the Detailer’s Grip - whilst the exchangeable nose cap also makes its first appearance.

• The Shaping Platform is for precise sanding, and for sanding at a 45 degree and 90 degree angle.

• The Detailer’s Grip enables the addition of a pistol grip for added control when, for example, etching into wooden signs or glass decorations, polishing silverware or brass knobs, sanding dado rails in tight corners and shaping wooden chair backs.

Ideal for carving, engraving, routing, grinding, sanding, cutting, cleaning, polishing and more - the Dremel 4000 is compatible with all 150 Dremel attachments and accessories, and will satisfy even the most demanding of craftsmen.

There are two kits available each having their own specific features. The Dremel 4000 will be available from B&Q and online at the Dremel website.

The 4000-1/45 is keenly priced at £89.99 (SRP) and the 4000-4/65 at £109.99 (SRP). An ideal Christmas gift for the DIY enthusiast.

For more information, visit the Dremel website.

Tel:  (0844) 736 0107