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Helping to preserve an industrial landscape
Story
Two former furniture factory buildings in East London have been transformed into high-end apartments with the help of Crittall windows.
Long Street in the Hackney conservation area was a key component in Shoreditch’s industrial heritage. The area was once the heart of the capital’s furniture trade and, following the Second World War when large tracts of land were earmarked for comprehensive re-development, the then London County Council sought to preserve the district’s characteristic built environment as well as local business by constructing what were termed ‘flatted factories’
The four-storey structural steel-framed blocks were built in Long Street in 1959 with plenty of natural daylight and generously sized lifts for transporting uncut sheets of plywood to the upper floors.
The two blocks now form part of a luxury residential development, Long and Waterson. Architects Fletcher Priest have taken their design cue from the industrial lineage of the area, retaining original external brickwork and window settings and adding two rooftop penthouse levels creating a total of 71 apartments.
Crittall Corporate W20 and MW40 systems were specified, in fixed and opening format together with Crittall cold form tubular doors that meet the RC3 burglary resistance security standard; a choice that preserves both the original appearance and the industrial heritage of the area.
