Woodchester House

Designed by Charles Mullineux Design, this contemporary garage pavilion was created to house a collection of classic cars within the grounds of Woodchester House. 

The design centres around transformation. When closed, the opaque glazed façade conceals the collection behind a calm and understated exterior, allowing the building to sit discreetly within its landscape setting. When opened, the pavilion reconnects with its surroundings, revealing the vehicles within and creating a more open and engaging relationship between interior and exterior. 

Natural light plays an important role throughout the project, with structural roof glazing and frameless glass connections drawing daylight deep into the interior while maintaining a clean and minimal architectural expression. 

The east elevation is formed by a large Fluid X Sliding Door spanning almost nine metres wide. 

Using opaque glazing, the sliding façade provides privacy for the collection while allowing daylight to enter the garage. The translucent appearance creates a soft, diffused quality that changes throughout the day, giving the building a subtle presence within the landscape.

When opened, the three sliding panels transform the character of the pavilion, creating a substantial opening that dissolves the boundary between inside and outside while placing the collection on display. 

A bespoke structural glass link connects the new garage pavilion to the main house.

Designed with minimal framing and frameless glass-to-glass junctions, the link creates a light-filled transition between old and new while maintaining visual continuity through the space. The structural glazing allows the addition to appear visually lightweight, preserving the prominence of the existing stone architecture.

Large-format structural glass panels were used throughout the link, requiring specialist lifting equipment during installation.

Two oversized Fluid X Pivot Doors are located on the north elevation, one positioned within the glass link and the other providing direct access from the garage to the north. 

Manufactured using opaque satin glass, the doors continue the material palette established by the main façade while providing practical day-to-day access. Their scale and detailing reinforce the minimalist architectural language of the pavilion while maintaining a consistent level of privacy throughout the building. 

 Large frameless rooflights introduce natural daylight into the centre of the garage, creating bright and even illumination throughout the space.

Solar control glazing helps manage heat gain, while toughened and laminated safety glass provides long-term performance and security. The frameless detailing allows the rooflights to sit discreetly within the roof plane, strengthening the clean and uncluttered architectural aesthetic. 

A frameless structural glass window on the west elevation provides additional daylight and carefully framed views towards the surrounding landscape. 

The minimal detailing reduces visual interruption and reinforces the project’s wider approach of maximising transparency while minimising visible structure. 

Woodchester House demonstrates how glazing can elevate a functional building into a carefully considered architectural intervention.

The combination of opaque sliding glass, frameless structural glazing, rooflights and oversized pivot doors creates a building that continually changes character depending on how it is used. Closed, it presents as a restrained and sculptural volume within the landscape. Open, it becomes a bright and flexible pavilion that celebrates both the architecture and the classic car collection it was designed to protect.