News from Timber Windows the wooden windows specialists
Timber Windows - Winner of Prestigious BWF Project of The Year Award
"Can you update a very specific style of timber window to a listed property, built in 1897 and once inhabited by George Bernard Shaw?"
This was the request made to Duncan Wright, Managing Director of Timber Windows early in 2008. Within thirty minutes, Timber Windows agreed to take a look at the building to see if they could help.
The property was an Arts and Crafts house designed by architect WF Unsworth, built in 1897. It is locally listed and has a blue plaque from Woking Borough Council showing that George Bernard Shaw lived there.
The project involved replacing existing inward opening windows to 'The Belvedere Room', a lounge built into the roof with 360 degrees of windows, four flush casement dormer windows to the level below, where two of the windows had a stud wall abutting the window internally, and a single flush casement window to the bathroom on the floor below that.
"We'd never seen anything like it!" Says Duncan Wright
"Having looked at upvc and other materials, it became clear that a unique solution was required. This included matching the external appearance aesthetically whilst maintaining clean sight lines from the inside, a method of cleaning and maintaining all windows from inside, splitting the colour so as to match the pale green external and white interior, much improved energy efficiency and very low maintenance. "
Although upvc was considered, it was clear that there would be more benefits to using Timber, from a sustainability aspect as well as aesthetically.
When the order was placed on the 28th May a deadline was set for completion by 25th August, quite a tight turnaround time. This was because t he building was undergoing its five-year exterior maintenance and would be fully scaffolded until this date. The people in the ground floor flat were also having a marquee in the garden to celebrate their daughters' wedding!
Normal turnaround is fourteen weeks; to achieve the deadline meant careful project management from the outset, but once approved, the windows went into production and installation commenced on the 11th August.
The windows had to be designed to satisfy particular requirements, aesthetic, operational, structural, high performance, low maintenance, environmental and not to mention the increasing logistical issues associated with installing fully finished glazed windows. Most properties only have one, or a few of these specific requirements to be considered, but they all had to be considered in extreme detail to find the most appropriate solution for this property.
In the end, the way in which this project was understood, planned, designed, manufactured and installed made Timber Windows the perfect candidate for the Prestigious BWF (British Woodworking Foundation) Project of The Year Award 2008
