Listed Thatched Building with Sunflex SVG30 Sliding Doors

An Oxfordshire project largely guided by the local conservation officer: the property has a strong barn-like appearance along the ground floor, so the improvements to insulation needed to continue that idea. Initially, the ultramodern slim aluminium sliding doors seem an odd choice, but the vision was to create the appearance of clear barn openings with as little style interference as possible. Way ahead of the order, we created a mock-up visual upon the existing building to make sure the result would look as expected and, from then, the Sunflex order started taking shape.

As this was an older building with less flexibility than newbuild, we couldn’t squeeze the massive depth of the brand new Sunflex SF60 into the space. Luckily, the tried and tested Sunflex SVG30 is still going strong, and still meets modern insulation standards via a CUIN glass unit. CUIN glass is double glazing, but with a 0.5mm thick layer of film in the centre of the glass unit – giving triple glazing performance without the downside of the weight. As a result, these doors won’t feel super heavy to slide around. Equally, using this lighter glazing setup avoids adding expensive mechanical lifting costs.

Sticking with the glass, there’s an awful lot of it! The vast majority of the courtyard facing sides would be contributing to solar heat coming into the home and overheating the building like a greenhouse. Luckily, there are options to avoid this, and we suggested a 70/35 solar glass option. This means 70% of the light will be let through, but only 35% of the heat.

Unique to this project was the conversion of panelled walls to glazed doors; surprisingly straight forward for the most part because the wall panels were all encased within a window-like frame. However, the living room presented an extra challenge: removing a nearby wall meant removing an open fireplace vent – required for building regulations. After double checking the requirements, we shortened the glass unit by 80mm and linked up with a company in Northern Ireland who specialise in glazed-in ventilation. Thermally-broken and acoustically rated to 38 dB Rw when closed, this new vent increased the area up to modern requirements and presented a far neater solution compared to its bulky predecessor.

The two option boxes ticked beyond Sunflex’s standard setup were the frame colour and the handles – both of which really suit the premium level of quality these German sliding doors offer. Noir Sable colours are textured finishes, only available on aluminium and designed to catch light in a very different way to a flat powdercoat. Rather special: the granite texture effect is visible both in natural sunlight and internal lighting. Equally special and always a recommendation from our end: on SVG sliding doors, always choose the stainless steel handles and lock set. Regardless of the frame colour, the steel handles are an easy upgrade that makes a massive visual impact.

Ultimately, the impact of replacing the entirety of two elevations of a home with any product is not lost on us, and we realised how important the choice needed to be. Sadly, the list of slim aluminium sliding doors that can stand the test of time is as thin as their sightlines, so we’re lucky to have had Sunflex’s German-designed systems on hand as the solution.