Awards & Standards @ THE GL@ZINE

Abbott Group Wins Taylor Woodrow Manufacturer Award

While many companies claim to be market leaders in the new housing sector, the Abbott Group says that it has proven just that by winning the manufacturer of the year award at the prestigious Taylor Woodrow Supplier Awards 2006.

Taylor Woodrow is one of the UK's major house builders and these awards were designed to recognise those suppliers who most enhance the company's reputation and overall business performance. The Abbott Group has manufactured, supplied and installed PVC-U Windows and Doors at a number of Taylor Woodrow developments across the UK, using a wide range of products supplied by parent company Plastmo Profiles.

Jim Wakefield, sales and marketing director comments: ‘we are absolutely thrilled with this prestigious award from Taylor Woodrow. It reflects a commitment not only from the management team but from the entire workforce.’

The Abbott Group has invested heavily in management systems, training and a new customer care charter in order to enhance the service offered to the national house builders. Jim concludes: ‘this award reflects the best ever results from our recent customer satisfaction survey, enhancing our reputation as the window and door supplier of choice to the house building sector.’

HOPPE (UK) Receives PAS24 Certification

HOPPE (UK), the supplier of door and window hardware, has just received Secured by Design (SBD) certification enabling homeowners to be as secure as possible.

Roger Benton, Joint Managing Director of HOPPE (UK), explains: ‘We invest heavily to ensure that our handles look great but there's little point in having a good looking handle if it doesn't do its job properly. So we've developed our popular Tôkyô handle to surpass the industry's most stringent door security tests.

The PAS24 test - established with the advice of Secured by Design, a scheme supported and promoted by the police - demands that doors, including door handles, hinges and locks, must withstand a determined three minute attack using tools an opportunist burglar might use. Normally different handles are tested on each door, because they become so damaged they no longer work.

But HOPPE's handle survived three such attacks, one after the other as the same handle was tested on a timber, then a composite door and finally a PVC-U door.

It then survived a determined all out attack for a further seven to eight minutes on the PVC-U door before the tester gave up. The PVC-U profile around the handle was wrecked and broken but the handle defeated the tester for a total of 16-17 minutes before he gave up. This is unprecedented.

Roger continues: ‘Unlike other handles, which are thin and hollow and either cast or pressed metal with a small amount of reinforcement around the back of the handle, HOPPE's handle has a thick, solid aluminium back plate fixed with 6mm screws - not standard 4mm or 5mm screws which can snap.

The back plate will not break and withstands bending even using a crowbar, therefore protecting the cylinder itself from attack.

‘Later in the year we'll be launching a range of similarly impressive, additional security products and more security innovations are in the pipeline.’

Web: http://www.hoppe.co.uk

Futuristic Regeneration Scheme in Glasgow Wins String of Awards

A lively and colourful residential and commercial development in Glasgow, which features innovative use of glazing systems from architectural aluminium specialist, Technal, has won another major award.

Designed by Davis Duncan Architects, The Matrix has been voted Urban Housing Development of the Year in the Building Communities Awards. It has already won award commendations in the Scottish Design Awards and the National HomeBuilder Design Awards, and was highly commended in the Built Environment category at the Scottish Enterprise Agency's Dynamic Place Awards.

This futuristic landmark building has been described as 'arresting' and as 'art to live in'. The judges at the Building Communities Awards said, 'This is a scheme in an inhospitable setting that has a distinctive design and provides tranquillity'.

‘We are delighted to be associated with such an innovative scheme as the Matrix and would like to congratulate the design team on transforming the site into a stylish, serene and very appealing place to live and work’, said Bob Welsh, General Manager of Technal. ‘This project demonstrates just what can be achieved with imaginative use of curtain walling and the very different effects it can create.’

Technal's visible grid curtain walling, which is framed by black rainscreen cladding, carries large 2.4m high panels of glass, and spans the full height of each storey on the south elevation to flood the living spaces with natural light.

The glazing specification met the required acoustic performance, and architectural interlayers in a palette of rich colours were applied to both clear and reflective glass. This has created a vibrant glowing effect at night and complements the coloured aluminium panels during the day.

Commenting on the design, Grant Robertson, Director, Davis Duncan Architects, said, ‘Technal's curtain walling system has a slim profile and yet is sufficiently robust to allow us to use large expanses of glass that achieved both the artistic composition and the functional form we were looking for. We could also fit doors, windows and insulated panels into the system.’

Technal's FXi52 balcony doors and casement windows were inserted into the curtain walling. All the glazing systems were finished in a dark grey polyester powder coating for a contemporary appearance and were fabricated and installed by Saint-Gobain Solaglas.

Tel: 01924 232323
Web: http://www.technal.co.uk

Comar 5 P.i. Reversible Pivot Window: Exceeds on Water Tightness, Wind Resistance and Low Air Permeability

Comar Architectural Aluminium Systems has announced that its thermally efficient Comar 5 P.i. Reversible Pivot Window exceeds the requirements of the BS 6375 Part 1: 1989 Classification for Weather Tightness.

The test sequence, conducted by Wintech Engineering, was undertaken in order to determine the weather tightness of the Comar 5 P.i. Reversible Pivot Window in respect to air permeability, water penetration and wind resistance. The test methods were in accordance with BS 6375 Part 1: 1989, BS 5368 Part 1: 1976, BS 5368 Part 2: 1980 and BS 5368 Part 3: 1978.

For accurate test results a Comar 5P.i. window was mounted on to a rigid test chamber. The pressure within the chamber was controlled by means of a centrifugal fan and a system of ducting and valves.

The Air Permeability Test calculated air leakage through the Comar 5P.i. window at the maximum air pressure of 600 Pa. As a result, the air permeability equalled 4.54 (m3/hr/lin m), well under the permissible level of 6.65 (m3/hr/lin m).

In the test for the Comar 5 P.i. water tightness under static pressure, water was sprayed on to the window sample from a distance of 400mm. The pressure was increased from 50 Pa to 600 Pa in increments of 50 Pa, each stage being held for 5 minutes. As a result, no water leakage was observed. In the second part of the test, the water pressure was increased further to 700 Pa and 1000 Pa. Throughout the test the Comar 5P.i. remained watertight.

The Wind Resistance (Wind Design Load) test assessed the Comar 5 P.i. resistance to wind pressure. The window was subjected to five positive and five negative pressure pulses of 2400 Pa. As a result, the Comar 5 P.i. window showed no evidence of any permanent deformation or damage.

For the Wind Resistance (Safety) Test, which assessed the window's resistance to high pressure pulse, the Comar 5 P.i. was subjected to a single positive (3300 Pa) and then one negative (3550 Pa) pressure pulse. Once again, the Comar 5P.i. remained impervious to the wind pressure.

The Comar 5P.i. reversible pivot window is part of the energy efficient Comar 5P.i. window suite. Thermal performance is achieved with a 20mm polyamide strip rolled-in between two separately extruded profiles. Copies of the test results, DVD and full Technical Manuals are available upon request.