A winter garden is a glazed room built onto the house: real walls of glass, a structural roof, and enough thermal performance to be used in January. It is not a pergola with side screens — it is an extension of the living space.
What the system includes
- Structure: thermally broken aluminium profiles carrying both roof and walls.
- Roof: insulated glass, polycarbonate panel, or an insulated sandwich panel where heat retention outranks daylight.
- Walls: fixed glazing, sliding systems, or guillotine glass where the wall needs to open fully in summer.
- Ventilation: opening roof vents or louvre sections — the detail that decides whether the room is usable in August.
- Options: integrated blinds, LED lighting, underfloor or infrared heating.
What drives the price
- Floor area and roof geometry. A lean-to against one wall is the simplest and cheapest form; hipped and multi-pitch roofs cost more.
- Glazing specification. Single glazing, double, or low-E double with argon — the largest single variable in the quotation.
- Roof build-up. Glass roofs cost more than panel roofs and need more structure beneath them.
- How much of it opens. Every sliding or guillotine section adds hardware and sealing.
- Snow and wind load. Set by your site, and it drives the profile sizes.
- Foundation and connection to the building. Flashing into the existing wall properly is what keeps it dry for twenty years.
Do not skip the permit question
A winter garden adds enclosed floor area, and in most jurisdictions that is a different regulatory category from a pergola or an awning. Rules vary by country and municipality, and in apartment buildings there is usually a separate consent requirement from the other owners. Settle this before you order — it is the single most common reason a project stalls after manufacture.
Why one supplier for the whole thing
Winter gardens fail at the junctions: roof to wall, glass to frame, frame to foundation. When the structure, the glazing and the opening systems come from one manufacturer, those junctions are designed together and there is one party responsible for them. We produce the aluminium, the glazing systems and the shading in the same plant.
Getting a quote
Send the dimensions, a photo of the wall it will attach to, and your climate — we come back the same day with a range.