VISION Issue 49 | Page 33

33 Is this your biggest window wall? It’s the biggest I could get. I wanted it big. The whole thing about the Paarhammer product is this lovely gliding system and the gutsiness of that timber frame. We could have done it in aluminium. There’s many ways we could have done it. But the overall effect of that softness of the wood and the matte of the time of years on the wood, plus the big sheets of glazing just gave it breathing space. It’s appropriate to the scale. We wanted dramatic. It’s thermally brilliant. We just love the whole effect. What other qualities do you try to engender? Beyond the usual spatial needs such as bedrooms and bathrooms etc. what does it do to your emotions? Why do you enjoy living there? What is it about coming home to that house that keeps the enjoyment going? It’s these surprises, these elements of space that are like lungs. It’s like breathing when entering through a lower ceiling and coming out to a higher ceiling. And the effects we can create with the light add to the continual enjoyment and discovery of space. We often get people writing to us years later saying, “Look, I get up and I just love living here.” That’s our product. That’s our style. Someone that loves living in the house. That to me is everything. Your windows bring alive the surrounding trees and sky. Yes, I’m absolutely amazed at glass. To take sand and turn it into glass that can also be structural. It’s just the most amazing ingredient. When I first went to the United States in the ‘80s and saw handrails in sheets of glass take on a structural quality, I just knew that the future had to be building bigger and bigger elements of glass. Now we bring in the whole environmental business of thermal qualities. Now we’re into double-glazing, triple-glazing. We don’t have the extremes of the European climate, but the Europeans have really mastered the use of glass. It’s a remarkable technology given all the elements of construction – lifting these sheets, installing them in a high-rise and allowing for wind loads. I just think glass is amazing. “We felt quite comfortable in doing a very, very bold home. Our clients wanted some drama. That’s what we went for.” GARY CATT, ARCHITECT