The Future’s Bright, The Future’s Orange
Our Story:
Orangeraie UK for founded by Xavier Bastien, Director of World Inspired Tents, and award winning event business. The company was looking to diversify its current offering and propose a premium structure to its clients. The main requirements for the new structure were that it would need to withstand the English weather, enhance the value of an existing building and not require a complicsated planning application.
After much research, Bastien met with Benoit Clement, Director of Abri&Co, who introduced him to the Orangeraie: a magnificent glass structure, which they had designed and erected for the Louis Vuitton MuseumROUND in Paris. Clement explained that he had taken inspiration for the Orangery from the Grand Palais, which was built for the 1900 Paris Exposition.
Made of galvanised steel and glass, the Orangery was absolutely mesmerising. With the sunlight flowing through the window frames and subtle shadows and reflections painted onto the wooden floor, the glass marquee had all the perfect elements.
Bastien immediately fell in love with the Orangery and in late 2020 came to an agreement with Abri&Co, to import the structure into the UK. He knew the UK was familiar with Orangeries, having been very popular with stately homes back in the 17th century.
Today however, most hotels and stately homes do not feature an Orangery and instead rely on temporary external fabric structures, such as marquees, to house events, exhibitions, or large functions.
The first Orangery UK project did not take long to materialise and in 2021, Bastien was commissioned to build two Orangeries for a large hotel in the Northwest of England, as the client wanted to extend their guest capacity to more than 500.
As an Orangeraie qualifies as a temporary structure, planning permission is required if the structure is up for more than 28 days. Any venue which already relies on an external marquee to host events can, without additional planning applications, install an Orangery.
(Article from BOUTIQUE HOTELIER)