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Crittall Windows, in partnership with Firmdale Hotels, has produced a striking new brochure to illustrate the upmarket projects that can be achieved using high quality steel windows, screens and doors. From new build to refurb, traditional to contemporary, Crittall products meet the architectural specification and design of hotels, restaurants and leisure centres.

The glossy 18-page ‘coffee table’ brochure presents ‘rooms with a view’, a collection of dynamic colour photos taken from Firmdale’s hotel portfolio. Through interior, exterior and close-up shots, the brochure offers a tour of the hotel company’s various properties and the Crittall windows chosen for each project.

With over 160 years in the business, Crittall is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of steel-framed windows. Its working partnership with Firmdale, a company recognised for its growing collection of chic boutique hotels, began several years ago with the hotelier’s first new-build project, London’s Soho Hotel.

The two companies have since worked together on two additional developments – London’s Ham Yard Hotel and Manhattan’s Crosby Street Hotel – with another new-build currently underway in New York City.

The Kit Kemp effect

Firmdale owners, Tim and Kit Kemp, are determined that their hotels should be “living things, not stuffy institutions,” with each manifesting a distinctive style to complement its particular setting.

Through her skilful blend of vibrant palettes and contrasting varieties of pattern and texture, design director Kit creates her own personal mix of “light, fresh, colourful and carefree” interiors. The result is a warm, eclectic look – a harmonious balance of traditional and contemporary, effectively offset by the Crittall units chosen for each property.

From guest bedrooms and suites to lobby areas, restaurants and lounges, the window and door units installed by Firmdale show how the right choice can really bring the outside in and lend a feeling of light and space throughout each hotel. Whilst the windows add distinction, “they are not intrusive,” Kit points out, and allow her the creative freedom to bring her design flair to life.

The Crittall portfolio: strength and function

Crittall windows combine the elegance of slim-frame design with the strength of steel to deliver maximum unobscured views. For example, the new brochure illustrates how full-height windows with curved heads from Crittall’s Corporate W20 series allow daylight to flood in at the Soho Hotel.

Likewise, floor-to-ceiling Crittall doors at the Ham Yard Hotel open the restaurant to the outdoor terrace, whilst full-height glazing provides guests with ‘a window on the world’ from the comfort of their rooms.

Crittall also uses slender steel profiles to create ‘screens’ which can add an element of definition to open-plan spaces, or to create a threshold between rooms. Given the size-to-strength ratio of their steel glazing bars, Crittall screens not only maximise the space available: they also allow light to flood into the interior to convey an even greater feeling of space, even in smaller areas. At Ham Yard Hotel, Crittall screens installed in the restaurant and reception areas complement the various textiles lining the walls and floors.

Images of the Crosby Street Hotel illustrate how expansive double-height dark green coloured steel windows convey an inviting warmth to the hotel from the street, whilst the storeys above feature innovative 24-pane windows for a more traditional look.

From architects, specifiers and designers to hotel groups, leisure centre operators and the hospitality sector, the new Crittall-Firmdale brochure provides a highly visual reference tool full of ideas for the creative yet practical use of steel windows and doors in various projects.

To view the brochure online go to:

http://www.crittall-windows.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/rooms-with-a-view-.pdf

Visit the Crittall’s main web site for information on its complete range of products.

www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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Story

Just as Saniflo and Kinedo products make life easier for installers and customers, the team at Saniflo acknowledges that taking products to the customers’ location also saves them time and money.

So, from May to October this year, the Kinedo by Saniflo ‘Building better bathrooms’ roadshow will be touring the UK; parking up daily at merchant customers with the aim of inviting installers along to installation demonstrations and product showcases. Saniflo technical and sales teams will be on hand to answer questions and discuss how installers can improve their earnings by fitting Kinedo cubicles – often in just a couple of hours.

The brand new, purpose-built roadshow truck will make its way from the south to the north of the country over the next few months. The latest Kinemagic Serenity cubicle and a customisable Kineduo shower bath are permanently installed in the truck, whilst the team will demonstrate the simplicity and efficiency of installing a Kinemagic Design.

A practical, smart Kinedo jacket can be won at each event by entering a simple competition whilst all those staying for the full demonstration will receive a complimentary gift bag full of goodies as a thank you for their time. Refreshments will be served from the truck following the demonstration giving customers further time to ask the questions about the full range of Saniflo and Kinedo products.

Any merchants wishing to book the truck for a day at their premises can contact their local Saniflo Sales Manager or ring Rajinder Ghatora on 020 8842 0033.  For a full list of current venues please see the Saniflo website .

 

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Story

Among its market-leading vapour permeable roofing underlays Klober Permo® forte SK2 is the only 4-layer product designed to help prevent falls through the roof. Its mesh reinforcement gives a degree of strength vastly superior to lightweight 2-layer products while self-adhesive edge tapes provide a lasting airtight seal at laps. As one of the most widely specified underlays for more than a decade it can be used on fully supported or unsupported tile, slate or metal roofs. Permo forte has been independently tested by the BRE for wind uplift in relation to BS 5534 wind speed map.

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Story

When upgrading thermal inefficient rooflights, FAKRO’s new range of flat roof windows offers a choice of flat or domed profiles. All have a contemporary style, utilise a multi-chamber PVC sash and frame and come in sizes designed to match those being replaced. The triple-glazed DRF DU6 has a window U-value of 0.74W/m²K while the DRC-C P2, which offers added burglary resistance through use of a laminated internal pane, is only slightly less impressive at 0.88. For smoke evacuation, the DSF DU6 and DSC-C P2 open automatically to a height of 50cm through activation of motors on each side of the frame.

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Story

Leading air conditioning manufacturer LG Electronics is working with Bristol based contractor Sugoi Solutions to fulfil a contract they won from B&Q for an R22 refrigerant replacement programme. It’s a programme that is seeing air conditioning equipment in more than 250 stores across the country replaced with new equipment that meets the ‘F’ Gas regulations.

It’s a significant contract worth in the region of £1.4 million, and one that has had complex logistical ramifications. B&Q will not only end up with fully compliant air conditioning systems in all their ‘back of house’ store areas – the staff areas and administrative offices – but with a full asset list with every detail they need for the future. For each branch Sugoi has provided a list of the replacement units, a signed permission to undertake the work, a risk assessment, a health and safety assessment, an F Gas Logo Sheet, pressure test sheet, evacuation test sheet, a commissioning record sheet and photography of each unit, internal and external before and after, so B&Q has a photographic record of every one of the more than 1000 LG air conditioning systems installed in their stores.

Sugoi director Ben May says it’s been the most comprehensive package of information they have ever provided as part of a replacement equipment contract: “We’ve undertaken the work in B&Q stores across the UK from the north of Scotland down to the Channel Islands! We’ve attended all the sites and organised access to the air conditioning systems, organised for the safe disposal of the R22 refrigerant in each case, sorted the removal and disposal of the existing kit and reinstalled like for like equipment. We’ve audited the work throughout the process and achieved 96% scores on the on-site audits of our work and as a result of the work we’ve done we’ve secured the maintenance contracts on all the equipment we’ve installed. We’ve provided comprehensive documentation for every store and for every piece of equipment we’ve installed.

“This is the biggest single contract we’ve ever undertaken and we’re very proud of the outcome. LG equipment is excellent to work with and the support we’ve had from LG has been first class.”

Andy Reed, Head of Air Conditioning and Energy Solutions at LG says he’s been impressed with the work Sugoi Solutions has undertaken: “We were delighted to win this contract from B&Q but clearly needed an installation partner who was up to the task. We’ve been impressed by the work Sugoi has undertaken in two phases of the project either side of a period when B&Q did not want any contractors on site working in their branches. The information packs they have provided to each and every B&Q branch and their head office have been excellent.

The equipment selected by B&Q for its stores included a selection of split and multi split systems, wall mounted units and ceiling mounted cassette units. The contract was won by LG due to the company’s technical capability, the product energy efficiencies, along with the ability to supply the units to a very tight time schedule and the agreement to an extended warranty on the products.

Visit http://partner.lge.com/uk for more information on the extensive range of LG equipment and services.

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