Doors & Windows

Responding to market demand for greater transparency,

Schüco has built on its second-to-none engineering to develop the ultimate bi-fold door.

Seamlessly connecting the outside with the inside in the most stylish and functional way, the new bi-fold door is available with very large pane sizes of up to 3.5m high x 1.5m wide. This means doors can be taller with fewer separate panes per opening, which combined with sightlines of only 90mm offers greater views with minimal obstruction.

Increased airtightness enables the AS FD 75/90.HI to achieve U-values as low as 1.0, which is the lowest in the company’s bi-fold door range. This could mean the crucial difference when working towards a warm, energy-efficient building that also allows the luxury of ample glass.

INTRODUCING THE NEW LARGER, SLIMMER BI-FOLD DOOR FROM SCHÜCO

Schüco is launching its new AS FD bi-fold door, delivering its slimmest frames yet, larger pane sizes and improved performance over its predecessor, the ASS 70 FD. The AS FD 75 will launch in May 2022 and the AS FD 90.HI will be available from September.

Come September 2022, Schüco will be rolling out the new bi-fold doors in in more opening configurations with additional flush, barrier free threshold options, providing even greater design flexibility. Meanwhile, no compromises have been made in terms of security either, ensuring the utmost security while enabling an overall more streamlined look with fewer hinges and the option of a new 3-point handle operated lock. The new bi-fold door is tested to burglar resistance PAS24/RC2 and is also covered by Secured by Design, the official police security initiative of which Schüco UK is a member. Experience the ultimate design freedom to create maximum light with minimum frames with this pioneering new glazing solution.

Find out more by visiting: www.schueco.uk/unfold.

GET IN TO SHAPE - AND COLOUR

Arched window: an exterior arched steel window and doors create that wow factor; image courtesy of Squib Photography/Three Spires Glass

The retro look of steel windows, doors and screens is very much ‘in’. Crittall says they don’t have to be just rectangular and white…

Porthole: an interior steel window with vibrant colours makes a big impact; image courtesy of Metwin

Interior designers and home decor influencers say retro naturalistic greens, bright colours, sky-blues, purple-blue hues, vibrant yellows, sultry black will make up the colour palette for chic home-owners this year.

The trend is for home-owners to be more adventurous in the shapes of windows and door styles too. As the ‘eyes’ of your home they deserve the attention - adding a deft touch of flair highlights your individuality and gives your home a unique characteristic style - that’s you.

Shape-up

Curves and rounded shapes are back – and authenticity and hand-crafted products are the hip buzz words. So, if you’re considering a new look, a window, external door, internal screen do not have to be the ubiquitous rectangular shape in white or black. On-trend are steel-framed windows and external doors with arches and sweeping curves. Get inspired – think outside the box You may want to make a style statement or maximise the view from your property with a sweeping panoramic style window or bring the outside in – the solutions are there. For example, floor to ceiling and ‘wide-view’ window options and Sixties-style picture windows are making a come-back.

Echo the past with gothic and lancet shape windows or heritage style oriel bay and bow windows, ‘bulls-eye’ panes and rondels. Or capture the essence of the 1920s with Art Deco porthole style windows.

Go for bigger round, oval or even diamond shape steel windows for impact.

Internally, consider a dramatic steel screen set with different sized colour glass panes – reds, greens, blues – clear, opaque, or textured panes – squares, rectangles to create a wonderful talking point. Or introduce a brightly coloured glass motif like a flower in to an interior or external porthole window for elegance.

Show your colours

Russell Ager, managing director at Crittall Windows, pioneers of steel frame window manufacture for almost 170 years, says: “These days, you can colour-match almost everything in the home – décor, furnishings, appliances - even your window frames – inside and out.

“With the modern take on the ‘retro look’ now very much the vogue, steel windows are enjoying a big resurgence in popularity in homes including luxury minimalist warehouse apartments. Adding that savvy splash of colour will ensure an even bigger wow factor.

“A wide choice of 46 standard – as well as custommade - colours meets individual needs. There’s also a dual colour option.”

On-trend are stunning steel-framed windows and external doors – arches, sweeping curves; image courtesy of Squib Photography/Three Spires Glass

For impact, try a bold or a darker colour on the outside and a neutral/white finish on the inside to match/blend-in with the interior décor.

They are available in any RAL or BS colour.

“Crittall’s legacy of shaping and influencing design and heritage of delivering excellence can be seen worldwide. We have our imitators, but the style and quality of authentic Crittall products are never matched. Tailor-made to meet almost any individual requirement – shape or colour - steel windows, doors and Innervision screens are designed and fabricated to last a lifetime.”

The slim ‘timeless’ frames and sight-lines, the graceful elegance offered by steel windows, present a light delicate feel inside and out, giving consistency of design. A welcome sense of airiness and space is created.

While for that minimalist look, there are most attractive grey, white and black options.

Every Crittall window, door and internal screen is made from high grade, recycled steel. Hot dip galvanized, means they are virtually maintenance free. Polyester powder coated, they also have a consistent, even, coating, not requiring redecoration for 25 - 30 years. An extensive range of classic and luxury hardware is available to complement your look.

A unique blend of precision machining and hand-crafted finishing for every bespoke product ensures style, elegance and value, whether your project is new-build or renovation of an existing property.

More Crittall Windows info

www.crittall-windows.co.uk; 01376 530800; hq@crittall-windows.co.uk

Panasonic’s New Etherea Graphite Grey: Designed for the Most Stylish Homes

• Stylish colour to suit any interior • nanoe™X built-in for 24/7 protection • Highest energy ranking of A+++ • Built-in Wi-Fi and voice assistant compatibility

Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions is launching its brand new, stylish Graphite Grey units to the Etherea with nanoe™X range of air conditioners, available in capacities 2kW – 3.5kW. Heating and cooling to suit any home

Designed to blend seamlessly into the most stylish homes, the latest addition joins the existing silver matt and pure white matt units, allowing for a wider choice to suit more interiors. The high-quality wall mounted air conditioner has an elegant design with a body width of just 870mm and has been meticulously designed to allow for easy installation and maintenance. Additionally, the units also come with an easy-touse remote controller with an ergonomic design and tapered rear housing for the most comfortable grip. The minimalist remote controller allows for an aesthetically pleasing design. nanoe™X: improving protection 24/7

A very welcome addition to any home, the smart Etherea unit comes with nanoe™X technology built-in to improve protection 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Abundant in nature, hydroxyl radicals have the capacity to inhibit 5 types of pollutants, including certain viruses and bacteria as well as odours to clean and deodorise. nanoe™X technology can bring these incredible benefits indoors so that hard surfaces, soft furnishings, and the indoor environment can be a cleaner and pleasant place to be. High-quality performance It’s not just about the looks: not only are the units stylish in design and colour, but they also boast the highest energy rank of A+++ in heating and cooling and a super quiet operation noise of just 19dB(A), providing the greatest level of comfort. The units also utilise Panasonic’s R32 Inverter Compressor for a lower environmental impact. The range is available in single and multi-split. Single split systems require simply one indoor and outdoor unit, whereas the multi-split range is suitable for applications where air conditioning requirements exceed the ambit of a single room, allowing up to 5 indoor units to be connected to a single outdoor unit. Advanced smart control and voice assistant

The Etherea units come with built-in Wi-Fi which enables advanced smart control and voice assistant. The units can pair with Panasonic’s Comfort Cloud app which is specially designed to easily manage all system functions simply via a smart device. Through the Comfort Cloud app, Etherea units can also be connected to some of the leading voice assistants on the market to further optimise air conditioning standards without having to lift a finger. For more information, please click here.

NATIONAL HOUSEBUILDER KEEPMOAT HOMES WELCOMED CITY MAYOR, PETER SOULSBY, TO ITS LATEST DEVELOPMENT IN LEICESTER, WATERSIDE.

During the visit, the Mayor and accompanying Council members were given an in-depth tour of the 17.2- acre development, located on Frog Island including visiting the new showhome, The Barkby. Alongside the tour, the City Mayor also met with the first residents who have already moved into their new homes at the development, gaining an insight into what city living is like in the transformed area.

Overlooking the Grand Union Canal, Waterside is an exciting new development featuring a mix of over 350 new one- and twobedroom apartments and two-, three and four-bedroom homes, aimed at working professionals aspiring for sustainable city living on the waterfront with an enviable urban design, and including at least 55 affordable units. In addition to the new homes, homebuyers will also benefit from new public green spaces and a new canalside path opening up the waterfront, along with 60,000sqft of Grade A office space.

City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “Leicester’s waterside has for a long time had immense potential for regeneration, and bringing that redevelopment forward for the benefit of the city has been a longheld ambition of mine.

“These new homes are a key part of that, and the catalyst for the surrounding waterside developments. The city council’s regeneration strategy for the city has included assembling this brownfield site using £25m of grants and council funds to compulsorily purchase run down and disused areas along the River Soar, as well as securing outline planning consent for these new homes.

“We’ve worked closely with Keepmoat Homes as our development partners to reach this important stage in making

Leicester City Mayor Visits 350 Unit Housing Development in Leicester

Leicester’s waterside a vibrant, attractive area in which to live and work.”

Since 2015, around 1,000 new houses and apartments have been delivered in the waterside area, along with around 1,000 student spaces, the Novotel and Adagio (200beds), new bowling alley and over 75,000sqft of new office space built at Friars Mill, Great Central Square and Northgate Street.

Shaun Fielding, Regional Managing Director at Keepmoat Homes said “We’re thrilled to have hosted the City Mayor and members of Leicester City Council, so that they can witness the great progress that we’ve made at Waterside and how the new housing development will provide the people of Leicester a great place to live.

“We’ve worked collaboratively with Leicester City Council and the City’s design team to create a development of bespoke houses and apartments, formed within an incredible urban layout which has already attracted potential new homeowners to the area, who will further enhance the city’s economy.” Work at waterside is expected to take five years to complete. For more information on Waterside, Leicester, click here.

The news comes after Keepmoat Homes’ East Midlands team recently relocated their office to Keepmoat Homes East Midlands, Unit 1, Interchange 25 Business Park, Bostocks Lane, Nottingham NG10 5QG

The development is surrounded by a protected woodland and two of the homes feature their own private share of the woodland, offering a countryside oasis that reaps the benefits of having an address associated with the popular area of Bramcote; just 4.5 miles from Nottingham City Centre.

Having already cleared the site, North Sands Developments has started works on these dream homes, due to complete in Spring 2023.

A key feature of this unique development is that the purchasers will have the opportunity to tailor-make their home to meet their exact requirement by working alongside the North Sands Developments design team.

The purchasers will be able to select their own bespoke features such as high-quality kitchen and bathroom interiors, floor finishes, internal doors and tiling, to name just a few. The new owners will have the ability to be involved as much or as little as they would like to.

James Hartley, director at North Sands Developments, said: “Following the success of our first Cow Lane development, we are extremely excited to be building more exclusive, executive style homes once again in such a stunning, leafy, sought-after location. We always ensure to design and build our homes to a high specification and ensure they seamlessly fit in with their surroundings.

“What I love most about this site is that it sits in such a peaceful, breath-taking, mature woodland setting on Cow Lane – each home will feature large windows that will frame these surroundings and prospective buyers can get a real feel for what this will look like in the new imagery we’ve released.

“We already have one of the homes under offer prior to any formal marketing through our new ‘Northsands Bespoke’ offering; this means that early purchasers will be able to design and choose the internal finishes themselves and have the North Sands team there to hold their hand through what is such a unique and special experience of having their dream home built for them.

“Interiors and finishes play a huge part in purchasing decisions; in short, the purchasers don’t have to compromise as everything can be bespoke to them, which is not something you can always say when you purchase a home.

“Having such a setting to call home and so close to Nottingham city centre, Beeston, Boots, QMC Hospital and the University, it’s incredibly quiet and one of the most desirable locations in Nottinghamshire. Beeston in particular is really evolving - with plentiful shops, retail outlets, restaurants and the brand-new cinema, it has everything on the doorstep without even having to go into town, though town is incredibly accessible by road, tram and train. Major road routes including the A52 and M1 are also in close range.

“We have had a lot of interest in The Grove already with one home already under offer. North Sands encourage anyone interested in purchasing to contact our agents, FHP Living for more information.”

Jules Hunt, sales director at FHP Living said: “We are so pleased to be acting for North Sands development again on yet another fantastic site on Cow Lane. Following the success of 41-47 Cow Lane, we expect ‘The Grove’ to be incredibly popular with prospective buyers.

“We do encourage buyers to contact us at their earliest convenience so they can take full advantage of the opportunity to work with the North Sands team - to design their bespoke home from start to finish.” Nottingham-based North Sands Developments launched in 2009 and from the outset, its aim has been to create highly desirable homes and has garnered a reputation for quality, service and architectural brilliance.

Those who are interested in ‘The Grove’ development are encouraged to register their interest with FHP Living by calling 0115 798 0002, or visiting their website.