A heritage restoration project at Porchester Court in central London features secondary glazing supplied by Granada Secondary Glazing to bring the 36 apartments up to modern standards of thermal and soundproofing comfort.
The apartments are contained within three Grade II listed Victorian terraces built in the mid-nineteenth century in the Bayswater Conservation Area. The buildings, first listed in 1987, were previously only partially occupied and left in disrepair.
The developer CIT Group obtained Planning and Listed Building Consent in December 2022 for a complete retrofit, reconfiguration and refurbishment, including a full upgrade of the thermal performance and air tightness of the building. The project began in February 2023 and was completed in July 2024.
Working with architects MAP Architecture and main contractor Ellmer Construction, Granada Glazing designed, manufactured and installed a combination of Balanced Vertical Sliding Units and two-pane and three-pane Horizontal Sliding Units to achieve the required thermal and acoustic performance.
Powder-coated in an RAL 9003 satin finish, the slimline aluminium frames were fitted to the newly refurbished timber primary sash and casement windows. Discreet and not visible from the outside, secondary glazing can make buildings up to 80% quieter by reducing noise levels up to 54dB. Adding an internal panel improves thermal insulation by up to 65%, helping to retain heat and lower energy bills.
Arched Windows on the 5th Floor of Porchester Court
Granada’s team overcame the logistically challenging layout of the apartments and the building being split into three blocks to successfully complete the secondary glazing installation in August 2024.
Rob Hebdige, Granada’s Contract Manager comments: “On a project of this size, and the level of inspection carried out by the client due to the sale value of the flats, to install ahead of programme and achieve zero snagging is a huge achievement and is a testament to our internal team and sub contract fitters’ hard work.”
Nicholas Robbins, Contracts Manager at Ellmer Construction, explains that the primary existing double-glazed timber windows had been refurbished in the 1990s, but the double-glazing did not have much thermal value.
“Secondary glazing was specified throughout the building to improve its thermal and acoustics properties. The secondary glazing looks great; it’s very discreet and as it’s quite a streamlined system, it doesn’t detract from the listed building’s appearance,” he comments.
Nicholas adds: “Granada Glazing’s experts were working with us through the tendering process, and they were really great. Their turnaround times were good, the design was really good and their installation on site was great. We enjoyed working with them and would definitely use Granada again on any future projects.”
The high-end development comprises one and two-bedroom apartments, as well as two-bedroom duplexes.