Kitchen Extension Orangey - are these better than a conservatory?

Yes….Oh Yes! Why people opt for a ‘bolt on’ conservatory rather than a highly glazed traditionally built kitchen extension really confuses me. A fully glazed extension like a conservatory and opened up to the kitchen is unlikely to receive formal Building regulations approval simply for its thermal inefficiency.

An orangey style of kitchen extension does not mean conservatory style of construction. The term orangey in relation to kitchen extensions mainly relates to a glazed section of the roof. These kitchen extensions that have an orangey glazed roofs are usually standard flat roofs with a large central opening for a raised pitched glazed section.

The beauty of this type of construction means that the remaining flat roof elements can be thermally improved on their insulation thickness to trade off for the extra glazing. The same applies for the walls as it is quite common that an orangey kitchen extension will also require extensive glazing for the walls simply to follow on with the design style of an orangey and the clients desires for lots of natural light.

Kitchen extensions that exceed 25% of the floor area as new or additional glazing will be required to have the extensions thermal efficiency proven by an approved SAP assessor. This is a person or a company that has been trained to use a government approved piece of software that calculates the heating required for your ‘as designed’ kitchen extension to that of a ‘notional or compliant glazed kitchen extension. Provided your ‘as designed’ kitchen extension with its orangey roof does not loose more heat than a compliant glazed kitchen extension then your scheme is acceptable under Building Regulations.

There are quite a few design styles and options for a kitchen extension incorporating an orangey roof from very traditional Victorian designs to flush glazed contemporary more modern styling. They can be central and of balanced properties within the roof in general or off set strategically located over the work, dining are relaxation area. Orangeys can be long, rectangular, square, round or even multi-sided. Although these designs may not be strictly defined orangey glazed roofs, they do define a style of roof glazing so much in demand these days.