Georgian conservatory style, similar to the Edwardian style of conservatory, is characterised by lightness and airiness, with more subdued lines than the ornate Victorian style.

The Georgian conservatory style features a flat front and a square or rectangular symmetrical shape. This makes the Georgian conservatory a really handy shape for laying out furniture and plants, with no wasted space. The Georgian conservatory typically has a high, sloping roof style that gives a spectacular vaulted effect. Your conservatory floods with light, making it a bright, airy and uplifting room.

Georgian conservatories were originally built on period homes from the 18th and early 19th centuries, and the style has been replicated on many neo-Georgian homes ever since. Own one and you've every right to feel posh, because the Georgian conservatory was originally the preserve only of those with style and the very rich who lived in stately homes. The Georgian conservatory was highly exclusive, coming as they did before the boom Victorian time for conservatories.

So what was Georgian architecture like? The Georgian period, which covered 1714 to 1830, was highly symmetrical and proportionate and had its roots in the highly fashionable work of Andrea Palladio, a sixteenth-century Venetian architect. We can trace the symmetry and boldness of today's Georgian conservatory back to this Palladian style.

Georgian conservatory style also pulls features from Greek and Roman architecture, as the Georgian period threw up many Greek and Roman ruins, the style of which the architects of the time were quick to copy.

The Georgian conservatory style has grown in popularity recently. Obviously, you can add your Georgian conservatory onto any style of building, but the very grand style works best with existing Georgian architecture, typified by red-brick houses with white woodwork and white-stone cornices.

In the days of the King Georges, the original Georgian conservatory style featured very few windows, as glass was costly and let the cold in. This is the major difference with today's Georgian conservatory.

With lots of light and airy glass, today's Georgian conservatory has echoes of its ancestors only in its architecture, such as window frames and style of brick used in the base. If you need planning permission, these are authentic features that you'll appreciate.