Everything you need to know about French balconies and loggias

The French balcony is an original architectural solution and makes the facade distinctive and refined. The structure gives the building a unique charm, testifies to the delicate taste of the owners and helps to fill the room with a lot of light.

In modern architecture, the French balcony takes a separate place. In its classic version, it is a small area with a beautiful wrought-iron fence. The balcony door has panoramic glazing, and the window sill in its classical sense is absent. Instead of a door, a large floor-to-ceiling window can be installed. For the most part, French balconies perform a decorative role and do not carry a functional load. In modern urban planning, such structures are very often used when designing premium-class houses.

Despite the lack of functionality, French balconies are rapidly gaining popularity, due to a number of indisputable advantages of these structures.

• Thanks to panoramic glazing, the room becomes brighter and visually appears larger. Even on a cloudy day, it is well lit, which significantly reduces energy costs.
• The design looks very original and increases the value of the property.
• Panoramic and stained-glass glazing options contribute to the creation of the illusion of open spaceblur the boundaries between the room and the cityscape. This is especially noticeable when the building is surrounded by green spaces, the crowns of which are located at the level of the balcony.
• Installation of decorative fencing does not require much time, and open balconies do not need external and internal finishing. This greatly simplifies installation and saves money.
• Panoramic glazing of closed-type French balconies favors good heating of the room on sunny days, which leads to a reduction in heating costs. The area of ​​such balconies can be used as additional living space, all that remains is to insulate the floor and choose a high-quality double-glazed window.

Along with the obvious advantages, French balconies still have disadvantages.

• The big disadvantage is the lack of a window sill. and a decrease in the privacy of the home when the apartment is located on the lower floors.
• If the balcony is on the south side of the house, then the sun quickly gets bored and begins to tire. There is a need for additional shading of the room in order to avoid premature fading of walls and furniture.
• The disadvantages include overspending of detergents, which will be spent on cleaning panoramic windows, and an increase in heat loss, which is associated with the absence of a wall and a large glazing area.
• A significant drawback is the fact that when rebuilding an old classic balcony in the French manner, permission from the relevant authorities is required, to get which in some cases is not so easy. In addition, the labor costs for dismantling and removing the old fence are quite high.
• The disadvantages include large material expenditures when erecting closed-type balconies using stained glass glazing. The cost of double-glazed windows significantly increases construction costs, forcing to abandon the idea of ​​replacing the traditional balcony with a French one.

We must not forget about such a problem as acrophobia, or fear of heights. Many are not too comfortable contemplating the abyss under their feet, which is especially true for the upper floors.

There are two types of French balconies: classic and modern. Classic ones look much more elegant, but in terms of operational characteristics they are much inferior to modern ones.

The classic French balcony looks very stylish. A semicircular, less often rectangular platform is framed with a beautiful wrought-iron fence, the balcony doors are completely made of glass or replaced by a large panoramic window. The site may be absent altogether, and then the fence is installed in the opening of a window or door.

You cannot go out to such a balcony, but it is quite possible to place flower pots. Openwork forging often looks like a voluminous basket and is the hallmark of the French balcony. In addition to the decorative function, the metal fence serves as a reliable barrier and ensures the safety of residents.

Less sophisticated fences are obtained from shaped pipes with a round or square cross section. For their manufacture, stainless steel and aluminum are used. Metal is coated with black, white or bronze paint, less often - chrome plated.

Over time, the classic French balcony was transformed and dressed in glass. The modern version is represented by panoramic glazing, installed either in the window opening or along the outer perimeter of the site. There is a forged railing on the outside or inside of the glass. On some balconies, forging may be absent: instead, the lower part of the glass is matted, tinted, covered with a mirror coating or framed in a plastic apron.

Many modern mini-balconies do not have platforms and look like a window to the floor with panoramic glazing, divided horizontally into transparent and opaque zones. However, such a division is not always found and completely transparent balconies can often be seen. The lower sections of glass rails are usually deaf, but the upper ones can be opened, providing ventilation of the premises. For glazing balcony windows, both metal and wooden profiles are used.

The difference between French and classic balconies is quite large. Below are the main differences, after reading which, a person will be able to determine which type of balcony suits him best.

• Functionality. Traditional balconies play a completely different role in an apartment than French ones. They act as a storage room for necessary and unnecessary things, serve as a place for tea drinking and sports, and are often an extension of the living area. They store sauerkraut and dry linen, they are glazed and trimmed with clapboard, but they do not particularly decorate and do not care about how they look from the street side. Another thing is French balconies, especially their classic versions. They were created to bring light and celebration to people. Many of them are buried in beautiful flowers and majestically flaunt their noble forging against the backdrop of austere facades. You can't put old skis on such a balcony or hang a children's bike. They breathe the spirit of aristocracy and exquisite taste.
• The next criterion for difference is size. Compared to a traditional balcony, French looks very compact.The depth of the site reaches 30-40 cm with a width of 1-1.5 m. An ordinary Khrushchev balcony has a length of 2.8-3.1 m and a width of 0.6-0.8 m. The width of the loggias starts from 1.2 m , and the length varies from 3 to 6 m.
• The need for interior decoration. In ordinary glazed balconies, the walls need decorative finishing, while in their French counterparts, the wall has been replaced by a panoramic window, and finishing is not required.
• Regarding glazed traditional and glazed French balconies, then the former have a parapet sheathed with siding, and the latter have glazing from the floor, and the role of the parapet is played by a low forged fence or a tinted bottom.

The issue of building French balconies worries many owners of apartment buildings. And if technically fulfilling a dream is not at all difficult, then it is far from always possible to document it. Difficulties with the design may arise if the facade of a residential building faces the main street, and a change in the configuration of one balcony will entail a deterioration in the architectural appearance of the entire building.

Such architectural restrictions are present not only in the capitals of the subjects, but also in many settlements of regional subordination. This is especially true for houses recognized as cultural heritage sites and historical architectural monuments.

Moreover, in addition to obtaining permission from the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, the consent of other owners of the apartment building may be required. In the case of unauthorized redevelopment of the balcony, administrative liability, a significant fine and a court order to return the balcony to its original appearance may follow. Therefore, before proceeding with the construction of the balcony of your dreams, it is necessary to study fire regulations, housing legislation and obtain the consent of the competent authorities.

Private houses are another matter. In them, the balcony can be rebuilt at your own discretion, without obtaining the consent of the relevant services. It is enough to contact an architectural and construction company, whose specialists will select the design, carry out the design and make the necessary calculations.

If permission to build a balcony has been received, then a number of important points must be taken into account during construction. For example, in the old housing stock, the balconies are not designed for a heavy load, which will certainly arise during the installation of metal-plastic double-glazed windows and forged fencing. Therefore, in "Khrushchev" it is recommended to pre-strengthen the slab and use a lightweight profile. The interior space of the converted "Khrushchev" balconies can be converted into living quarters. To do this, it is necessary to strengthen the site and carry out insulation of the floor and ceiling.

There are a great many ways to decorate a French balcony, and the choice of the best one depends on the architectural design of the facade and the style of the interior.

Glasses play an important role in decorating the balcony. For example, with forged fences, decorative lattices - crossbars - look great. They are available in different colors and are selected depending on the design of the facade. Versatile are models in silver, white, black and gold. They match any wall color and are in perfect harmony with a wrought-iron fence.

With the help of shpros, double-glazed windows are divided into rhombuses, rectangles and squares, emphasizing the strict style and geometry of the space. If the forged fence has an ornate pattern and is decorated with a large number of decorative elements, then with the help of spros, more complex patterns are formed on the window, consisting of honeycombs, semicircles or cells.

A great idea for decorating a balcony is to use multi-colored glass. Frosted and tinted glass has a high decorative effect, and tinted glass not only decorates the facade, but also avoids intense sunlight. Multicolored stained-glass windows, executed in the form of ornaments and intricate patterns, also look beautiful.

However, the main element of the decor of the French balcony is a wrought-iron fence. It is decorated with flower buds, small and large curls, sculptural compositions and figurines of fairy animals. From above, artistic forging is covered with gold leaf, painted in the desired color or patinated. If the balcony has a small area, flower pots are installed on it and nasturtium, geranium, ivy, pansies and petunias are planted in them.

If space permits, then you can put wooden boxes and plant beans, herbs or tomatoes in them. Flowers can be arranged in several tiers: put compact plants with bright beautiful flowers on top, and on the sides and bottom place climbing plants - ampelous fuchsia, morning glory and sweet peas.

Mini-balconies that do not have platforms can be decorated with graceful lanterns or candlesticks. They should be mounted on the facade wall on both sides of the window.

The interior decoration of the French balcony is carried out in accordance with the style in which the room is decorated. The best option would be to use natural colors and natural materials that suit most interiors.

In front of the panoramic window, you can put a couple of decorative pillows directly on the floor. Sitting on them with a cup of hot coffee, you can while away the evenings and contemplate what is happening outside the window. You can put a floor lamp nearby or place beautiful sconces on the wall.

It is better to choose daytime curtains from a light translucent material that will not burden the space and provide a good view. On the lower floors, thick curtains are needed to hide what is happening in the room from prying eyes. Curtains are more suitable for classic styles, while blinds are better for modern interiors.

When decorating a balcony from the inside in a private house, near the window, you can install wicker furniture and put a large flowerpot. It is better to cover the chairs with textiles made in a rustic style and decorated with interesting appliqués or braid with your own hands.

Despite their small size, French balconies allow for bold design solutions and provide owners with a lot of space for the most fantastic ideas:

• the natural wood profile makes the French balcony austere and noble;

• a variant of the interior design of a modern French balcony, converted from the “Khrushchev” balcony;

• double-glazed windows with spros and flower pots harmoniously combine with the design of the facade and emphasize its sophisticated style;

• a balcony with a wrought-iron fence without a platform will become a worthy decoration of any building;

• French balcony with a platform as a full-fledged recreation area.