We were approached by Square Feet Architects in September 2017 to assist with the glazing to a high end private residential property in Hampstead. The client’s brief was for the architect to build their contemporary dream home. With this in mind Square Feet Architects researched the market thoroughly, before selecting the Secco Sistemi range of products.
The meeting that followed established the need for a high performing system with slim sight lines in an architectural bronze finish and with 25mm wide plant on dividers. As a consequence the Secco OS2 65 system was selected. The clients preference for door height tilt and turn windows eliminated the need for lock box profiles to be applied, thus maintaining a slim aesthetic throughout the property. In addition Secco’s market leading thermal break technology enabled the 2.7m tall windows shown on the architects concept drawings to be realised. The collaborative effort between Square Feet Architects, Venturi UK, the approved fabricator and the main contractor M H Costa has delivered exactly what the client demanded.
Photography by Paul Smoothy – Architectural Photographer
Mowat & Company architects were commissioned to design the new flagship store for Berry Bros. & Rudd in Pall Mall. As London’s longest established wine merchant and with their new store literally around the corner from their historic home, it was important for the materials and finishes to communicate the quality that is synonymous with the Berry Bros.& Rudd brand.
As a consequence, Mowat & Company decided to use the Secco OS2 system, in architectural bronze, as a key feature within the store. The slim sight lines and excellent thermal performance, made the Secco OS2 system the perfect choice for the three double door sets, to the chilled fine wine cabinet, at the rear of the store. The use of the OS2 system with thermally efficient plant on glazing bars and matching architectural bronze lock boxes and lever handles adds to experience already enjoyed by Berry Bros. & Rudd customers.
Alex Mowat says “In designing the new store we looked to ways in which products and materials could be both modern and match the tradition of high quality and excellent service of the client’s brand. We selected Secco for quality and Venturi for their service. A great combination! “
Supplied back in late 2015 the Mayfair Hotel in Stratton St Mayfair, London features the Secco OS2 slim steel system.
The architects, Ettwein Bridges needed a slim heritage steel product but thermally broken to meet modern building requirements. Most of the glazing is fairly straight forward but one screen in particular created a bit of a challenge.
The curved screen had to be ‘flipped round’ due to it being an internally glazed system to allow for glazing and deglazing in case of damage in the future. Although uncommon this can be done with careful design and manufacture to ensure the water tightness is kept.
The system was finished in a special bronze effect polyester powder coat paint to fit in with the local architecture.
When Peter Berkin first contacted us about supplying a couple of folding doors to his house we had no idea it was going to be such an interesting project and journey.
The initial meeting around the kitchen table was informal and fact finding on both sides. Peter and Chard explained they were building a new house in their large garden and that the build would be filmed and featured on Grand Designs.
It was quickly realised we had so much more to offer than a couple of bifold doors and working with Peter’s architect we came up with a compliant spec for the rest of the glazing also.
The circular design of the building is quite unique and the main entrance and 3 extremely large picture windows are the first sign of the spectacular building you are about to see.
The central courtyard which is the most impressive, features at its centre, 4 sets of triple glazed bifold doors with angled fixed triple glazed elements above, as the building spirals upwards. The design of the brackets to support these windows was, in itself, quite a challenge.
The glazing featured is a triple glazed Scandinavian pine system, powder coated to the exact RAL colour required by the client and featuring both fixed and opening elements. Most of the opening elements are tilt and turn for excellent ventilation and easy cleaning but on the end of the building are some extremely large windows needing special design intent.
Here the wind load has to be dealt with by the frames and so a steel plate was introduced between the frames to cope with the static wind load. There is also a set of inward opening double doors to take maximum advantage of the view over open fields (we won’t mention the housing estate that sprung up!).
This was both a challenging and rewarding project to supply, as the finished building is beyond our expectations and the clients were, after Chard’s initial hard fought negotiation which would have been at home on a large contract in central London, great to work with and understanding of the things that do happen inevitably on a building site (one of the picture windows arrived with a cracked glass).
The Dun Laoghaire Library Project in Dublin is quite an impressive structure by Cork based architects Carr, Cotter & Naessens Architects.
The building makes a natural connection between the town and the Harbour. Clad in Granite the huge window frames have terrific views out over the sea. The ground floor windows feature Architectural Bronze frames, ideally suited to the marine environment and were manufactured locally by Gunn Lennon Fabrications (an approved Secco Sistemi fabricator).
The four-storey structure was built into the existing slope creating two ground floor areas and a pair of quieter upper levels, designed to offer a mixture of both social and intimate spaces.
The triple glazed lift and slide doors have a very high performance, Class 8A for Watertightness and up to 43dB for acoustic performance. The flush cill with integrated water drainage makes access easy for all.
