Hotels and restaurants are the types of places where many people go to relax, for a break or to celebrate events such as birthdays and anniversaries. This means that for these types of leisure and hospitality buildings the comfort of the guests should be at the forefront of each decision.
Glass box extensions or highly glazed extensions are a great way to do this as they provide the internal living space with clear views of the outdoors and help to maximise natural light within the interior spaces. Views of the outdoors are especially important if the building is located in a scenic spot. In order to make the most of stunning surroundings, using frameless or minimally framed glazing is essential.
Natural light has many benefits for people both physical and mental, including aiding a better night’s sleep and reducing stress. These benefits can help to ensure any hotel or restaurant guests have a pleasant experience.
Highly glazed extensions can also enhance the design of any hotel or restaurant, whether it is a traditional style building or a build with a contemporary design, the glazed extension can be used to bring a modern touch without disrupting the building aesthetic.
If a hotel is being extended to include a restaurant, this could be the ideal opportunity to create a highly glazed extension that brings a contemporary touch and creates a breathtaking dining spot that is flooded with natural light.
Solar Control
Architectural glazing for hotels and restaurants needs extra consideration, such as solar control glass if there is a large glazing elevation or if the glazing is south facing, as this helps to maintain a comfortable temperature inside of the glass extension for both guests and staff.
Some people may worry that having glass extensions on hotels and restaurants may cause the space to overheat when the sun hits the glazing, however, by utilising glazing with a solar control coating this is easily avoided.
Solar control glazing uses a thin metal oxide coating within the insulated glass unit which reflects the suns rays back outside preventing them front entering and becoming trapped in the internal spaces.
Solar Glare
Reducing glare in hotels and restaurants is also important as no one wants to be squinting or have the sun directly in their eyes whilst they are trying to relax and enjoy their dinner. Our electrochromic glass is a unique and innovative technical glazing solution that can provide shade and reduce glare. Our portfolio includes both hotels and restaurants that have used electrochromic glass to achieve this.
Listed or Heritage Buildings
When it comes to glazing for listed or heritage buildings, highly glazed extensions are often preferred as they don’t take away from the design of the building.
Our technical glazing solutions also include low iron glass for unparalleled levels of clarity, this could be important for heritage or listed buildings or where thicker laminated glass panes or triple glazing is used.
We can also incorporate decorative glazing into many of our systems to allow glazing systems and the overall extension to become a design feature of the hotel or restaurant.
Structural Glazing for Hotels and Restaurants
Structural glazing is often used in modern glass extension designs thanks to its frameless design and flexible nature. Structural glazing can be used to create bespoke extensions for hospitality projects, including unusual shapes and angles.
Invisio is the first fully thermally broken structural glazing system on the market, allowing leisure and hospitality glass extensions to reach impressive sizes without compromising on thermal efficiency.
Hotel Glazed Extensions
Our Gravetye Manor project included the addition of a highly glazed Michelin star restaurant being added to the Grade I Listed hotel that was built in 1598.
The project also utilised floor to ceiling minimal windows sliding glass doors to create sliding glass walls.
Above the restaurant is a large MARS automated sliding glass rooflight that can be opened to increase ventilation and looks extremely impressive, enhancing the overall design of the space.
Montrose Hotel utilised two glass box extensions, one on the side of the hotel and one to create a glass link between two parts of the building. The one at the side creates a middle ground between the hotels outdoor seating area and the internal spaces.
The addition of the minimally framed glass extensions on the hotel brings a contemporary touch to the exterior without taking away from the more traditional style build.
Restaurant Glazed Extensions
A renovation project in Marlow saw the transformation of the Dog and Badger public house into a high-end, contemporary bar and restaurant. Many of the charming original features in this Grade II listed building remain but it has been extended, adding a contemporary glass extension to the restaurant to increase natural light.
We recently installed glazing for the Marquis of Cornwallis, a luxury hotel, restaurant and bar in Suffolk. These glazing elements included our minimal windows slim framed sliding glass doors, structural glazing and an automated opening hinged door.
For hotel and restaurant glass facades, our Invisio structural glazing system is ideal, and in this project, they used heated glass in the slim sliding doors to ensure the space inside maintained a comfortable temperature at all times.
Glazed extensions for hotels and restaurants need many considerations, and IQ Projects’ extensive portfolio showcases our expertise in this area.
If you have any questions about glazing for leisure and hospitality projects, don’t hesitate to get in touch and a member of our technical team will be able to assist.
Shannon Normoyle
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