Bespoke Rooflight Enhances Natural Daylight in Historic Hotel

As part of the comprehensive refurbishment project, Doonan Architects introduced an innovative approach to Matfen Hall’s design, particularly focusing on the two interconnected courtyards at the building’s core. Previously relegated to mere back-of-house spaces for staff access, these courtyards held immense potential for transformation into vibrant communal areas for guests. By integrating these spaces into the hotel’s main structure, Doonan Architects maximised available space, improved circulation, and enhanced wayfinding within the expansive hotel premises. These courtyards were envisioned as central gathering points, featuring versatile elements such as a stylish bar area, a restaurant dining space, and more relaxed seating areas, all contributing to the hotel’s overall appeal!

Two distinct design strategies were employed to transform each courtyard. The lower courtyard, leading to a cloistered basement with the imposing gothic arch of the stained-glass Great Hall window, demanded a unique solution. To preserve unobstructed views of this magnificent window from all angles within the courtyard, a contemporary glulam structure with a glass roof was proposed. This structure, suspended from brackets on the courtyard walls, not only maintained an open, column-free floor space but also preserved the asymmetrical arrangement of existing doors and windows, ensuring the space’s characteristic openness was conserved.

In the case of the lower courtyard, the challenge was to enclose the elongated space while preserving the illusion of an outdoor environment. The Bespoke Multi-Part Flushglaze system, featuring glass fins, proved instrumental in achieving this objective. It allowed for the extensive coverage of the space with minimal structural intrusion while crucially maintaining uninterrupted views of the Great Hall stained-glass window. The glass fins also provided the option of brass support brackets, seamlessly integrating with the interior design scheme. The choice of a flat Flushglaze rooflight was paramount here as a pitched rooflight would have partially obstructed the windows above, making the flat design the ideal solution.

The upper courtyard presented a different challenge, requiring a smaller rooflight arrangement that seamlessly blended with the arched glulam roof structure, giving the impression of an open sky above. Here, precision was crucial, with the glass fins aligning seamlessly with the structure below to create a nearly invisible appearance, skilfully executed in collaboration with Glazing Vision’s designs. In addition, smaller rooflights were employed to illuminate specific areas within the upper courtyard lobby and circulation spaces. The simplicity of Glazing Vision’s product and its unobtrusive sight lines ensured that the rooflight did not draw attention from below. Instead, the focus shifted to the natural light filtering through and the expansive sky overhead.

‘‘Doonan Architects have worked with Glazing Vision on a number of projects requiring high-quality rooflight, although on a much smaller scale than at Matfen Hall. We had previously found their team easy to work with, with their technical team knowing their products inside-out, as well as being friendly and efficient. As a result, we knew they would be able to help us with the complex design requirements of the contemporary covered courtyard extensions we designed at Matfen Hall. We engaged Glazing Vision early in the design process to understand the limitations of glass in relation to what we wanted to achieve. They provided crucial information on maximum glass sizes, structural glass fin loadings, and solar control coatings, as well as an array of precedents to better-understand our choices in context. We worked together to resolve the ‘dog-leg’ rooflight arrangement of the lower courtyard while ensuring the seamless glass finish we required could be retained. We also made use of the additional aesthetic options provided by Glazing Vision to match the glass fin brackets with the high-end brass finish seen throughout the extensions. On site, lifting such large glass panels over the existing building and onto pre-formed upstands was nerve-wracking to watch but the process was smooth with the sections fitting together seamlessly, as we have come to expect from Glazing Vision. The transformation of the courtyards was instantaneous, resembling early visualisations of the project very closely, while giving the required technical performance.’’ – Jenny Conroy, Doonan Architects