For The Finest Conservatories, Orangeries & Rooflights.

Hardwood Conservatories

Vale Garden Houses build Hardwood Conservatories…they build Softwood Conservatories too. They also ‘mix & match’, building Hardwood Conservatories incorporating Softwoods where appropriate, and Softwood Conservatories incorporating Hardwoods when appropriate.

And whether it’s Hardwood Conservatories, or Softwood, a Vale Conservatory always incorporates Aluminium within the structure to ensure absolute build integrity, complete stability, and ever-lasting longevity. This process, unique to Vale Garden Houses, covers detailing within the Roof construction…see Vales Unique Roof Construction, through to beautifully detailed external Columns and Pilasters.

With Conservatory structures many assume that a Hardwood Conservatory is good, and a Softwood one is bad, whereas the most important consideration of all, is when and how to use the correct, most appropriate, and best materials for the occasion.

For Hardwood Conservatories Vale use West African Sapele, American White Oak, or European Oak, and for Softwood Conservatories their preference is North American Douglas Fir, the use of which they have perfected over the past 30 years, and this is still their preferred material today. There are no cost differences, so advice is always based on ‘best advice’, be it a requirement to meet a Client, Architectural, or Structural preference.

When considering the question…a Hardwood Conservatory, or a Softwood Conservatory, the Client should first choose the ‘best supplier’, as there is no one ‘best material’…confused, well consider these two interesting facts;

Balsa Wood is a Hardwood, but one of the softest, weakest, and least durable timbers available, and in between this and the best, there are some pretty nasty Hardwood species available from questionable and unsustainable sources.

Douglas Fir is a Softwood, but one of the hardest, strongest, and most durable timbers available, and can readily be sourced from sustainable and certified sources. And as an interesting footnote to this…did you know that the ‘Flag-pole’ at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, standing around 70 meters tall, is made from the trunk of a Douglas Fir thought to be 370 years old?

So be it a Hardwood Conservatory, or a Softwood Conservatory, if it’s a Vale Conservatory, you can be assured that it will be the ‘best’ Conservatory for the occasion.

Peter Richardson – Designer