DOORS&WINDOWS
PVC-U and Grade II
can go together
Mark Tetley and Martyn Haworth,
Directors of Bison Frames, look at how
the quest for energy efficiency and
genuine period aesthetics resulted in the
company’s new Genesis vertical slider.
For many homeowners, when
it comes to windows, PVC-U
has become synonymous with
energy efficiency.
This is a testament both to
our industry’s innovation in
developing such advanced
products and to intelligent
marketing that has succeeded
in embedding the concept in
homeowner’s minds. But for some
properties, the choice of window
can come down to the material
they are made from rather than
practicality, energy efficiency or
aesthetic appearance.
Nowhere is this more true
than for owners of period
homes, especially those with
listed building status or in some
conservation areas. The PVC-U
industry has, however, come on
in leaps and bounds in recent
years and the new generation
of heritage-look windows
increasingly offers authentic
traditional style that sits well in
period settings with all the added
advantages that PVC-U can
offer.
Yet despite this, when it comes
to Grade II listed properties and
dwellings in some conservation
areas, PVC-U is often a no-no
and timber seen as the only
acceptable material.
This is something that we’ve
long wanted to challenge, so
when we were approached by
the owner of Russet Cottage, an
1830s Grade II listed building in
Blackburn to replace the windows
with our standard welded PVC-U
vertical slider we knew we were
in dangerous territory - but
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APR 2014
we also knew we had to take
this opportunity to make some
changes.
Working with our client, we
sought the advice of the planning
officer from the start. We took
time to understand what could
be done to follow their guidelines
so the significance of the listed
building would not be harmed as
well as listen to their objections
to using a PVC-U product. By
listening carefully we soon realised
that some of his objections were
more than valid, expressing his
concerns towards the detail of the
mock sash horns on a standard
PVC-U vertical slider and the
welded joints associated with most
PVC-U windows.
Armed with this, we developed
a vertical slider that would
overcome these objections and
be accepted or at least considered
for use alongside timber in
some Grade II listed properties
and conservation areas. The
result was the Genesis VS and
we are delighted to say that it
was accepted for use in Russet
Cottage, allowing its owner to
benefit from energy efficient, low
maintenance windows and period
looks.
So how does the Genesis VS
differ from a standard PVC-U
vertical slider? The biggest
difference is NO welded joints.
We realised that, although PVC-U
vertical sliders had many of the
features of a traditional timber
sash, by using welded corner
joints, they would always look
like PVC-U windows. In order to
overcome this, we needed to get
rid of the welded joint element
and replace it with traditional
timber jointing methods. After
months of research, development
and rapid prototyping we
eventually commissioned
bespoke tooling and injection
moulds that have enabled us to
create a PVC-U window that
uses traditional timber jointing
methods. This traditional
appearance is complemented
with period look, high security
cam locks and sash buttons, run
through sash horns and a deep
bottom sash rail as standard,
making the Genesis VS the most
authentic looking PVC-U vertical
slider on the market.
We are delighted that our
PVC-U Genesis VS was accepted
with open arms as an alternative
to timber in Russet Cottage
which demonstrates that some
Grade II listed buildings and
conservation areas needn’t be
no-go areas for PVC-U. We
aren’t advocating that PVC-U
windows should be accepted
for use in every instance: some
properties are listed because they
have architectural and historic
merit and deserve to be sensitively
restored and maintained. We ARE
saying that high quality heritagestyle PVC-U windows such as
Genesis VS should be allowed
to stand alongside with timber
and considered as an option.
Homeowners should have that
choice.
We feel so strongly about this
that we have started a campaign
aimed at English Heritage and
local planners to ask them to take
high quality PVC-U windows as
well as timber into consideration
when the homeowner is looking
at replacement windows.
If you would like to join, sign
up at: https://you.38degrees.
org.uk/petitions/pvcu-can-suitgradeii.
To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com