Monthly Archives: July 2018
Ancon honoured at third Buckingham Palace Royal Reception
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Ancon has been honoured at a Royal reception to celebrate its success in the 2018 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise – the third Queen’s Award for the company.
The champagne reception, held in the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace, was hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales, on behalf of HM The Queen. Other members of the Royal Family, including HRH The Duke of Kent, were in attendance, underlining the status of this prestigious industry award.
Ancon’s Export Manager, Hervé Poveda, and Operations Director, Peter McDermott, represented Ancon at the event, along with representatives of its business partner, MagmaTech, joint winners with Ancon of the 2018 award.
It was a very proud moment for the two Ancon representatives who share over 50 years’ service and have played important strategic roles in the company achieving and maintaining UK market leadership and its significant international growth.
Speaking after the reception, Hervé Poveda said ”What a wonderful personal experience to meet the Royal family at Buckingham Palace and a great honour to be asked to represent Ancon at this event. A Queen’s Award not only recognises expertise in developing new products or achieving commercial success, but also excellence in every area of business. I am proud to be a part of an organisation that has proved itself, once again, to be among the best in the world.”
Peter McDermott added, “Winning one Queen’s Award is a great achievement, but winning three is a real measure of the depth of expertise, knowledge and dedication that exists within Ancon, at every level of the company. Today is a proud moment for every Ancon employee as well as our suppliers, customers and partners who have contributed to Ancon’s achievements throughout the world.”
Ancon’s latest Queen’s Award, for continuous excellence in innovation, comes as a result of expanding into advanced composites, with the successful introduction and on-going development of the ultra-low thermal conductivity Teplo range of basalt fibre wall ties, which improve the energy efficiency of masonry construction.
This success follows Queen’s Awards for International Trade in 2015, for three years of outstanding sales growth across new and existing export markets, and a Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2012, for the in-house development and commercialisation of a patented Lockable Dowel, a product that revolutionised the construction speed of post-tensioned concrete buildings.
The 2018 Award will be officially presented to Ancon later in the year when the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, HM The Queen’s local representative, visits the company’s recently-extended production facility in Sheffield.
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Crittall windows feature in latest RIBA awards
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A showpiece re-use of a former London retail store in which new Crittall windows and doors are a key feature has won two major architectural awards.
The Department Store in Brixton now serves as the magnificent headquarters of architects Squire & Partners. It has been named as a winner in both the Royal Institute of British Architects’ 2018 National and London Awards.
A dilapidated shell was all that remained of the once stylish 1906 store. Multi-award-winning architects Squire & Partners decided, in moving their head offices from Kings Cross, to strip the sad Brixton building back to its raw original condition and, in so doing, reveal the decaying grandeur of its original construction and fittings. These features would be re-used where practicable and highlighted.
These included original first floor Crittall windows, featuring distinctive circular glazing bars, while new internal screens, roof terrace fenestration and ground floor storefront windows, some including curved glass, were installed, using Crittall MW40 and W20 profiles.
RIBA award judges said this was: “A stunning building which has been brought back to life”. It had undergone “Exceedingly exquisite and sensitive restoration, filled with beautiful material choice, attention to details and wonderful spaces.”
Particularly noted was the architectural modelling space on the ground floor “providing inspiration to passers-by who peer inside to see the display of what architects do and how we work.” It is the new Crittall storefront windows that afford this view.
The re-born Department Store now offers more than 6,000 square metres of space spread over four floors incorporating open plan offices, breakout areas, meeting rooms, exhibition spaces, a model-making workshop, a café, bar, roof terrace and a record shop. Clumsy later additions and extensions were removed in the restoration and its original wooden floors, brickwork, marble, terracotta and, of course, steel windows, have all contributed to a truly back-to-the-future design.
The RIBA judges concluded: “This project has a sense of fun mixed with honouring history which brings delights to those who step inside.”
For Crittall Windows group chairman John Pyatt said: “We were delighted to have been part of this tremendous building transformation which underlines the fact that our products never go out of fashion.”
