February 8, 2018
As major conservation redevelopment specialists we have extensive experience when it comes to working on various conservation projects, historical buildings, heritage projects and listed building restoration. Our expertise includes:
- Complete refurbishments
- Retained facades
- New build as existing
When larger buildings in Conservation Areas need a major update the options for the developer are varied. Anything that is done firstly has to pass the requirements of the Conservations Officers who in order to maintain our heritage are becoming increasing demanding.
Complete Refurbishments
Complete refurbishments usually entail keeping all the main structure and updating the interior, as we were instructed with Houldsworth Mill. Built in the 19th century, the mill was a Grade II listed building in a conservation area, close to the heart of Stockport.
Read our Houldsworth Mill case study.
Retained Facades
Retained facades are used extensively in central London, although not exclusive to the capital, because the Planners insist on preserving the facades but the interior space cannot be maximised with the existing layout being maintained.
In our recent blog on façade retention we posed the question, are retained facades the answer to architectural conservation? Our extensive experience of retained facades has seen us manufacture replica windows and doors to replicate the existing perimeter look and feel of the building, but behind the building exterior the layout has been dramatically changed to fit with the new needs of the building. The Channel Flagship story in London was a great example of this.
Read the Chanel Bond Street case study here.
New build
Sometimes the planners allow a new building in place of an existing building providing it looks the same, as with the former Wilbraham Hotel, which was rebuilt into luxury apartments.
View the Wibraham Hotel case study.
With regards to all of these conservation projects, in each case the developers are looking for windows and doors that will:
- Comply with the planners requirements
- Be of the highest quality and look beautiful
- Have very high performance:
- Acoustic
- Thermal
- Security
- Have low maintenance.
When we were tasked with manufacturing hundreds of windows and doors as part of the reconstruction of a conservation area in Kings Cross back in 2006. These were installed by Barnsdale Windows, and are still going strong. Lasting over 12 years without needing to be touched.
Optimising each of these requirements is a difficult balance, and within our technical team we have experts to deal with every element of them. We also have a huge range of UKAS test data to prove the performance of our products. One example is over 100 acoustic tests) This can make big savings on individual projects.
We have become the leading company in the country for conservation projects, with many of the most prestigious developments using our products. Read our project types section for more information about other commercial projects we work on.
