Building a home from scratch can be a daunting prospect, which is why it’s crucial to get good contractors on board from the start. From architects to bricklayers, having the right people with the right products on site can make all the difference.
Here, we speak to our customer Paul, a musician from Berkshire, about why choosing Minima’s corner sliding doors was central to the success of his beautiful contemporary home.
We found a wonderful plot and decided to knock down the existing building and create a brand new house. My wife and I were very excited by the concept of building our own property – we’d only done one small renovation project before – so we felt it was really important to get the right people on board to help us. We found a brilliant local architect and when they showed us their designs my wife and I immediately felt we couldn’t NOT build it! We absolutely loved their vision for the house.
The plans ticked all our boxes in terms of space and light, and the design was really quirky and contemporary. It was a lot more complicated than we’d first envisaged, but we decided that was a price worth paying for the kind of house we’d end up with. The plot was challenging because of its unusual shape, and we had some protected trees to work around. Placement of the house was really key so we ended up siting the house in the back corner to maximise the light.
We’ve got four kids aged between five and 10 so we needed quite a lot of space. We’ve been able to create a large, seven-bedroom house filled with light. The house is like a Tardis – it doesn’t actually look that big or overstated when you drive up to it, but there is a lot of space. The basement is actually bigger than our last house!
The beauty of the Ultraline system is that we could have corner sliding doors that open up without needing to have fixed pillars in place. This feature was really important to us because we wanted wall-to-wall glass with a really open feel. I’m quite thorough with my research and I found it difficult to find that design feature with any of Minima’s competitors. When the doors are opened up at the corner we can create a large section that’s completely open to the garden. Also, even though the doors are huge they slide so easily and smoothly. They really do work perfectly.
It gives us that sense of indoor-outdoor living we always wanted. The ground floor area looking onto the garden is basically wall-to-wall glass. The first thing we’ll do on a sunny morning is open up the sliders and then the kids are happily in and out of the garden all day. And on cooler days when the doors are closed, we enjoy lovely, uninterrupted views of the garden.
The glazing was a huge feature of the design of our house. So we really needed to get it right. And with Minima we feel we did that. The frames are so narrow you barely notice them. It all feels very sleek and open. In retrospect, if we hadn’t gone with Minima and had instead chosen chunkier doors, it would have changed the whole feel and atmosphere of the house.
We also felt like we were in very good hands with Minima Sliding. On installation day, for example, they had to crane the basement doors in over the house which was no mean feat. They did a fantastic job and were also really nice people to have on site.
I’ve already recommended Minima to friends and I’d definitely use them again myself. Once you’ve been through the building process, you realise how important it is to have good tradespeople and contractors on board. Minima would definitely be my first port of call for glazing in the future.
Not just yet. Although I must admit I’m starting to get itchy feet… Watch this space!
Do you need corner sliding doors for your extension or newbuild? If so, give us a call to find out more about Minima’s award-winning Ultraline sliding doors.