MAIN IMAGE: MATTHEW SMITH C/O MOLE ARCHITECTS
MARK BRINKLEY
is the author of the ever-popular
Housebuilder’s Bible
and an experienced self-builder
One of the defining trends of recent years has been the overhead rooflight. This has been partly driven by our desire for natural light, which rooflights deliver more of than vertical windows (three times as much according to some suppliers), and partly by technological innovations that have made it feasible to place large sheets of glass in demanding locations. Structural glass, they call it. You can make walls, ceilings and even floors out of it, and you can join it together without any supporting frame. It looks miraculous, but of course it comes with a serious price tag attached.