Juliet Balconies

[dinp]

Dunno about you, but I can think of nothing more degrading than having a black railing welded to the wall of my house/flat with an inward-opening set of UPVC 'French Doors'.

Romantic, or just plain shite? Only post if you have an opinion, not like a certain mod....

[Martin G]

Are there any male equivalents called Romeo Balconies by any chance Dinpy?


Equality for both sexes and all that, you understand....

[wjfox]

Originally Posted by dinp

Your thoughts....

I honestly couldn't give a shit.

[dinp]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

I honestly couldn't give a shit.

Thanks for the reminder, i'll amend my first post...

[dinp]

Originally Posted by Martin G

Are there any male equivalents called Romeo Balconies by any chance Dinpy?


Equality for both sexes and all that, you understand....

Now there's a thought - if you swap the garage door with the window on the first floor, that could be a Romeo Balcony. Blokes could open the door from inside, sit on the edge with a can of beer and they could weld a small concrete step to the wall for them to rest their feet on

[Martin G]

Yeah - quite - just what is it about so many Brits who feel the need to sit outside their doors in front of their houses whenever the weather is slightly fine - I mean, as if our streets aren't generally unsightly enough, you then have so many of these fucking ogres defiling the neighbourhood even further by plonking themselves on balconies or front doorways watching the rest of us go by....and let's face it, it's ALWAYS the ugliest c***s in the neighbourhood who sit outside their houses in nice weather isn't it? You rarely, if ever, see attractive people, cos they obviously have better things to do - like go away to nice places or at least saunter around the city where they're going to be better appreciated by others. I hate it - I feel like throwing hand grenades at all of them fucking mingers as I walk past them. Ugly pug-faced c***s!

[Kara]

I hate it when you see an ad that says the house or apartment has "outdoor space" only to discover when you go to look at it that it's one of those annoying waste of materials and space! You can hardly fit two chairs on there comfortably. If there's more than three people out, you're practically walking on each others feet.

I remember I used to live near an apartment complex that had them and there were always children playing on them....doesn't exactly equal a yard and I always felt a bit sorry for the poor little things. Also, they like to drop objects (such as toys, coins, and even water balloons) off of them and that can become really annoying when you're the one walking underneath!

[The Longford]

Some smart fellas in Manchester recently awarded bad architecture hounours and one catergory was "Worse balcony".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/cont..._gallery.shtml

I fucking despise 'juliet balconies'. Mies Van de Rohe will be spinning in his grave if he knew the human race still used such arse gravy on its buildings.
What is the fucking point - i ask you?

[Butterfield]

I can't see any problem with them! My sister has got one on her brand new 2nd floor flat. All through the summer she had the doors open which allowed plenty of fresh air in and she's put nice plants in the top of the grill thing that acts as a window box!

Whenever I go round I stand in the open doors and watch the cars go by, whilst there is a distant view over to the mast on Cannock Chase and further round the BT Tower in Birmingham - what could be better?!

[Martin G]

The very phrase "Juliet Balconies" sounds bloody stupid anyway - how fucking ridiculous and laughable. I mean, just because the eponymous Shakespeare play has her standing at one calling down to her suitor..... the blunt reality couldn't be more different and undignified.

In the proper (uncultured and hamfistedly British) scheme of things, they should more correctly refer to them as "Renee Balconies" - after that legendary video for that number 1 hit "Save Your Love" by Renee and Renato. That just about sums up the true British psyche in relation to residential buildings far more accurately than the unrealistically romanticised vision as imagined through the quill of a long-dead, vastly overrated and over-eulogised playwright.

[Effer]

Plain shit!

[Butterfield]

I don't understand everyone's problem! What other options are there if you live on the 1st+ floor and want to let large amounts of light and air in?? A full blown balcony is surely more expensive and even more of a waste of time! I'm sure most new flats have them these days and I think they're a welcome bonus.

[liverpolitan]

i like em, I'd prefer a proper balcony, but a little one is better than nothing. These ones are in central Liverpool



And, from Brighton, the balcony on the left is a tiddly one as well - I can't bear the name "juliet" though, it does sound so stupid and coy.

[Molly]

I guess fake balcony or false balcony would be a better name for them and I think from outside with the French or patio doors they look sad..but from inside that would look very noce and be better than nothing and it lets in the light... I like this far better them the dark rooms with the small windows.

[The Longford]

Both my Nanas lived in crappy local authority high rise blocks and yet they both had decent sized balconies.
If they could be afforded in the design of those flats then private developers should stop treating their customers with utter contempt and build some decent flats and if they want to give them a balcony bloody give them one.
Dont be fooled juliet fans - this is just a cynical and greedy ploy by developers. Decent architects and developers will give people a balcony. Its no coincedence that crappy developments usually have juliets and decent ones have 'real' balconies.

If i was in the market for a flat i would rather lose 2 feet of living space to a real balcony than have a juliet or more realistically not have any balcony(of any description) at all.

As for a name change - i suppose 'juliet' rolls off the tongue better than "some bars to stop you falling 5 storeys, across a dirty great hole in the wall where we have put a door where a window really should be" - which is essentially what they are.

[Mancunian Monkey]

Don't see what's wrong with them myself. Let's a nice flowing breeze into the room - sounds quite nice! But I do agree with Martin G that the name is shite. Didn't even know they were called that anyway. Not as good as a 'proper' balcony either, but it's better than nothing.

[Butterfield]

Originally Posted by The Longford

Dont be fooled juliet fans - this is just a cynical and greedy ploy by developers. Decent architects and developers will give people a balcony. Its no coincedence that crappy developments usually have juliets and decent ones have 'real' balconies.

I'm by no means an architect but I thought that most people who lived in high rise flats thought that their balconies were useless pigeon lofts and nowadays councils (at least in Birmingham) are "filling in" the balconies, creating a larger living space for the residents.

What can do you do on a balcony anyway?? They take up valuable space and are quite often only just about wide enough to get two bodies on standing upright. You might as well have a space-saving black railing by French doors so you can almost enjoy the outdoors... indoors.

[larven]

What a load of rubbish...these juliet balconies or "balconnettes" as we like to call them are a good way to allow extra light into a living room without having the expense of having a proper balcony. They've been doing it on the continent for years now and despite what you may think dinp they are very popular for buyers of houses and apartments alike. I accept that their design and execution may leave something to be desired on some developments and they may be a trifle too prevalent these days but fundamentally they are a good idea and an ideal solution where space and natural light may be constricted.

[Pobbie]

I don't mind them at all.

[JDRS]

I personally think they're a great idea. There's a new development of flats near here that's got them and the development would look stupid with proper balconies as it's fairly short. Great for the people living in them and I like the look of them on the outside as well.