Last Spring, Soundcraft had the privilege to work for an unusual project now featuring in Grand Designs Season 17, hosted by Kevin McCloud.
The architect and client David Parsons had a very clear vision of the house he wanted to build. With the support of his wife Michelle, he planned the construction of a black –clad, three bedroom house with an art studio. Situated within the woodland of Essex, these box-like structures would form an intimate, interior space.
For total privacy, the plan was to have no windows in the front of the building, bringing light in purely from the south elevation and the offset pitched roof. This would enable the house and studio to become the perfect private workplace and retreat for Michelle.
In order to achieve this desired effect, the windows used would have to release enough natural light for the inside of the building, particularly for the studio.
Soundcraft’s SCW+ curtain wall, SPW600 doors and PURe® windows were the obvious choice both from an aesthetic perspective and for their performance. Senior Architectural System SPW600 doors, SCW+ curtain walling and innovative PURe® windows ensure an excellent thermal efficiency, allowing U values as low as 0.71W/m2K to be achieved, keeping energy bills to a minimum.
Commenting on his choices, the client said: “We both liked the curtain walling system and PURE windows because of the square, contemporary profile of the sections. Also the PURE window system was the next level of thermally separated windows, giving a better performance than the SPW600s.”
The gloomy bunker is no more…and in the words of Kevin McCloud, the building is “a triumph of light and colour”.
Find out more about our curtain walling products, or to watch the full episode, visit the 4OD website.
