December 12, 2022

The Soho Farmhouse Huts

Written by Chloe Thompson

Sliding Glass Doors with Glazing Bars at Soho Farmhouse Huts

Planning Permission

The exclusive members club was awarded planning permission for these 20 new huts in 2021 following huge demand on their hotel rooms. The farmhouse estate was at 100% capacity almost every night with large waiting lists for their memberships to the exclusive pool, spa and leisure faculties.  

The development and extension plan used a former camping field and football pitch to house the 20 new sleeping huts with large elevations of glazing to the rear face.

Soho Farmhouse and the Soho group investment in the area of over £100M had so far created over 400 jobs in the local area with additional local development occurring as a result of local supply chains including goods and services.

The plan to expand the members club included its aims to increase the Soho House investment in West Oxfordshire and was eventually approved in late 2021. 

Design

The team at Soho contacted IQ in 2020 – before planning was approved – to start discussing the feasibility of the glass design in the Huts. The development and Soho Farmhouse Huts were designed by Nyde Studio and were designed to maximise views of the surrounding Oxfordshire country side whilst maintaining the Soho House ethos for design and style.

Each Soho Farmhouse Hut was designed in a gentle Isosceles Trapezoid shape, with the largest end focusing out on the landscape and filled with architectural glazing.

The full width glazing elevations were designed to offer expectational views over the surrounding countryside for the A list guests who come to Soho Farmhouse escape the bustle of their everyday lives.

Nyde described the doors in their design as ‘Crittall Style Sliding doors’ with a gun metal framing profile. The technical team at IQ worked with Nyde and Soho to narrow down the specification options and create a design that worked for the style of the project as well as the performance specification required.

In the end, an aluminium solution was chosen with a dark grey frame and applied glazing bars to achieve the steel look design. This was preferred over a true steel design thanks to the durability of aluminium over steel as well as the ease of maintenance. Aluminium sliding screens at this size provided a much lighter sliding glass door to the Soho Farmhouse Huts than steel would have been able to achieve.

The specification of the sliding glass doors and glazing bars was finalised in mid-2021 and the design drawings were signed off in Sept 2021 ready to manufacture.

Installation

Project underwent and expedited manufacture program and we started install in Nov 21. The install was a phased installation to match the completion of each hut at Soho Farmhouse.

In order to achieve the expedited and challenging program set out by Soho Farmhouse each sliding glass door was manufactured to agreed sizes. This poses further challenges to the team on site who had to work closely with the contractor to ensure each hut’s sliding glass door fit perfectly.

Each Soho Hut was identical, with the thermally broken sliding glass doors measuring 3.5m tall and 5.3m wide each. Each set comprised of a four-pane sliding door, biparting on a centre track. The sliding doors also featured an ‘invisible base’ track with the sliding mechanisms sunk in below the floor finishes.

Specification

• Frame Colour = RAL 7039 Matt Textured
• Glass Specification = 8mm TXD / 24mm Argon gas filling / 8mm TXD with Low E Coating

At the beginning of the installation phase, it was quickly understood this would be a difficult installation. The site was extremely difficult terrain for glazing with churned mud along all access routes to the Soho Farmhouse Huts. Due to the expedited nature of the construction of the huts, many trades were working on each hut at all times. This posed significant challenges to the glazing installation teams who needed space to work.

The installation of the sliding glass doors took place over numerous visits between November 2021 and March 2022 whilst each hut was constructed and ready for glazing.

Completed Huts

The new Soho Farmhouse Huts are designed to facilitate a complete mental and physical detox, where you can heal body and soul without even trying.

The 20 well-furnished boltholes are located behind the Boathouse with two different huts on offer: Field View Huts, which look out over swathes of rolling green landscape, and Farm View Huts where you can gaze over bucolic scenes of grazing cattle. Both are designed to let nature in, with lofty ceilings, panoramic windows and full-height sliding doors that blur the line between outside and in.

Inside, you will find all green terrazzo floors, muted palettes, limewashed walls, brushed gold metalwork, and Douglas fir timber ceilings. Each hut is fitted with a walk-in shower, wood-burning stove, underfloor heating, a mini-bar, living area, and emperor-size beds Every Hut comes with its own terrace and wooden bath.

You can book to stay at one of the Huts at Soho Farmhouse here on their website.

For more information about the glazing design or specification of the sliding doors featured on the Soho Farmhouse Huts, just get in touch with the team at IQ.