ClearspanRequest a light studyStudy
Rows of tomato plants strung to wires under a bright glass roof
0 lx
at canopy · 91% of what's outside

Light as infrastructure.

91% transmission. 9.6 m bays. Sized from a light study, not a catalogue.We design glasshouses the way you'd design a water main: measure what's coming in, size the structure to carry it, add supply where it falls short. The glass is the pipe.

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01 · One day of light

Every pane, every hour.

0.0 mol
daily light integral · per m² · target 18
Dawn · 05:40Low angle, east bays first
Noon · 12:30Full canopy, 42,000 lx
Cloud · 15:10Diffuse, even, 60%
Dusk · 19:50Supplemental on, 200 µmol
Dawn. The east bays wake first.Low sun, long shadows from the gutters. The structure is designed so the shadow of one bay never sits on the canopy of the next.
A glass roof grid of pale aluminium bars against a deep blue sky
02 · The structure

What the glass carries.

91%

light transmission. Low-iron glass, diffuse coating, measured after install.

9.6 m

bays. Wide enough for the machinery, narrow enough that the bar shadows stay thin.

40 yr

design life on the frame. Glass gets replaced pane by pane, not roof by roof.

12 min

to fit a bay from the cradle. Then the next one. Then the next.

A small glasshouse glowing warm from inside at dusk, a sliver of moon above

When the sun stops, we don't.

Supplemental lighting is sized from the light study, not from the fixture catalogue. If your site gets eighteen moles in June and nine in December, we design for the nine and switch off in June.

Systems

Three ways to build it.

Same glass, same gutters, same light study. The difference is the span and what you're growing under it.

Venlo · 9.6 m bays · 6 m gutterStandardTomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, anything on wires

The workhorse. Twin-pane roof, ridge vents both sides, screens above the wires. Most of what we build.

From £118/m² · structure and glass
Widespan · 12.8 m bays · 7 m gutterWideNursery, potted, anything on benches or trolleys

Fewer posts, more floor. Heavier frame, same glass. Built where the machinery is the constraint.

From £134/m²
Retrofit · your frameReglazeOlder houses with sound steel and tired glass

New low-iron glass on the existing frame, bay by bay, while you keep growing. Light study first: sometimes the frame is the problem.

From £48/m² · survey included
The light spec

What a light study measures.

Six weeks on site with sensors, before we draw a line. Here's what comes back.

A long glasshouse aisle between rows of potted plants under a glass roof
DLI
Daily light integral, by monthMoles per square metre per day, outside, on your site. Not the regional average. Yours.
Angle
Sun path and shadow mapWhere the gutters throw shade at eight in the morning in February. The bay spacing comes from this.
Diffuse
Direct to diffuse ratioCloudy sites want clear glass. Sunny sites want haze coating. Most people get it backwards.
Gap
The shortfallTarget minus supply, month by month. This is the number the supplemental lighting is sized from.
Cost
Light per poundStructure, glass, fixtures, electricity, over ten years. Glass usually wins. Sometimes it doesn't, and we say so.
Light study

Request a light study.

Send the site, the crop, and what you're growing under now. We put sensors up for six weeks and come back with the numbers, the shadow map, and a structure sized to them. No drawings before the data.

Request a light study