Combining Traditional Architecture with Contemporary Glazing
The architectural design for Camlet Way balances familiar residential forms with a more contemporary approach to light, scale and internal space.
Pitched roofs, stone detailing and columned elevations reference traditional English architecture, while the extensive glazing creates open interiors and direct relationships with the surrounding Crown Estate countryside.
The rear elevation became the principal expression of this contrast. Rather than dividing the double-height living spaces with conventional windows and doors, the design uses three exceptionally tall moving glass elements.
These installations allow the glazing to express the complete height of the internal volumes while providing practical access to the garden. The result demonstrates how double height glazing can resolve daylight, access and architectural-scale requirements within one elevation.
Engineering Three 6.1m Tall Vertical Sash Windows
Each vertical sash installation measures approximately 6.1m high by 1.4m wide.
The systems comprise a fixed upper pane and a moving lower pane. When activated, the lower glass rises vertically, creating a large opening at ground-floor level and allowing the internal living areas to connect directly with the garden.
Operating glazing at this scale required the glass weight, automation, supporting structure and concealed mechanisms to be coordinated from the earliest design stages.
A concealed pulley and counterweight arrangement assists the movement of the large lower panes. The automated system is operated using a dead man control switch, allowing the user to maintain direct control while the glass is moving.
The mechanisms are housed within the surrounding building structure, preserving the clean appearance of the completed elevation. Only the slim 21mm horizontal profiles remain visible across the glass.
Explore how automated sliding glass systems can be integrated with exceptionally large moving panes.
Operable Glazing Across a Double-Height Elevation
The vertical sash configuration allows the rear glazing to perform as both a window and an entrance system.
When closed, the large panes create uninterrupted glazed elevations extending through the double-height living spaces. The minimal framing preserves views towards the garden and allows natural light to reach deep into the plan.
When opened, the lower panels rise to create wide access points at ground-floor level. Unlike a conventional hinged door, the moving glass does not require an inward or outward opening arc.
This makes the system particularly suitable where architects want to preserve floor space and maintain a consistent glass façade while still introducing operable access.
Camlet Way is not an example of conventional horizontal 6m sliding doors. It demonstrates a related vertical application using minimal windows® profiles, concealed automation and project-specific engineering.
Open-Corner Sliding Doors to the Basement Lightwell
The basement spa and gym are illuminated by a glazed lightwell enclosed using minimal windows® sliding doors.
The principal elevation measures approximately 7.4m wide by 2.7m high, with a return measuring approximately 2.4m wide by 2.7m high.
The two elevations meet as an open-corner sliding door arrangement. When the adjoining panels are opened, the 90-degree junction disappears without leaving a fixed corner post within the opening.
This allows daylight and ventilation to reach the lower-ground accommodation while creating a direct visual relationship between the spa, gym and external lightwell.
The concealed perimeter frames and slim vertical interlocks maintain the same minimal architectural language used across the vertical sash systems above.
Sliding Bay Windows and Frameless Juliet Balconies
Floor-to-ceiling bay windows were incorporated into the front elevation using sliding centre panels and frameless glass returns.
Each bay measures approximately 3.2m wide by 3.2m high. The glass returns maximise the visible area of glazing and reduce the amount of framing across the projected window forms.
At first-floor level, the windows were coordinated with integrated frameless glass balustrades. These create frameless Juliet balconies without introducing visually heavy guarding across the glazed elevations.
Using matching minimal windows® profiles across the vertical sash windows, basement doors and bay windows creates consistency throughout the wider glazing package.
A Barnet Home Defined by 6m Tall Moving Glass
The completed Camlet Way project demonstrates how large-scale moving glass can become an integral part of a residential façade rather than an isolated feature.
The three 6m tall vertical sash windows in Barnet bring daylight into the double-height living spaces while creating automated openings between the home and garden. Their concealed operating mechanisms allow the architectural emphasis to remain on the scale and transparency of the glass.
The basement open-corner doors, sliding bay windows and frameless balustrades extend the same minimal-framed approach throughout the property.
For architects considering exceptionally tall moving glazing, read our technical guide to 6m tall doors. For projects requiring conventional horizontal panels at this scale, explore the dedicated 6m tall sliding doors product page.
