explore the BusinessNet
Crittall Windows: style and function for hotel projects
Story
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.
