Conservatories - Pg 1 - Pg 2

The unprecedented building boom that occurred in Ireland since the early nineties has led to a further industry being created in tandem – that of adding conservatories or sunrooms to existing homes or incorporating them into new build houses.

This leisure concept idea was then further extended with the introduction of decking and large patio and barbeque areas. The Celtic tiger era of increased wealth and disposable income meant that the Irish embarked on a spending spree of home improvements in all areas of the house and garden.

We imported quite a lot of ideas from the United States, from where young people returning in their droves, following the mass emigration during the seventies and eighties, brought with them the outdoor leisure trends that were popular in a country that had a better and more varied climate that wet and old Ireland.

In days of yonder, conservatories were attached to only very salubrious country mansions in Ireland. They were less of a living area then and more designed and suited to keeping and cultivating plants and flowers.

More modern home design in the twentieth century developed the idea of an all-glass construction addition to the home that could be lived, mostly for summer only, because of the climatic conditions that rendered it a fridge to live in during the winter months. This was because the conservatory was in essence a fancy and ornate version of the basic glasshouse, with single glazing. Whilst in the summer month’s windows and doors meant you could control the levels of heat, come winter you vacated the place because of the cost of heating a room that had no insulation whatsoever.