Ingenious design for Reynaers' new accessible homes window

Leading aluminium systems company Reynaers has launched a new variant of its best-selling CS 77 window, which has been designed to meet new guidelines for accessible homes.

Increasingly, homes now have to be designed so that it’s easier for disabled and elderly people to live independently in their homes for longer, without compromising on aesthetics or cost-effectiveness.

In Wales, all publicly funded new homes are being built to the Lifetime Homes Standard, which comprises 16 design criteria that aim to make new homes accessible and adaptable to accommodate the needs of both occupiers and their visitors.

Document M in the Building Regulations for England includes guidelines in Category 2 for accessible homes and Category 3 for wheelchair users. If specified, these guidelines achieve much the same thing as the Lifetime Home Standard.

Reynaers has developed the CS 77 Window for Accessible Homes to help specifiers and contractors meet the requirements of both the Lifetime Homes Standard and categories 2 and 3 of Document M.

Hugh Moss, Head of Marketing at Reynaers, said: “The CS 77 Window is a ‘turn before tilt’ window. Importantly, the window’s handle is centrally positioned on the bottom rail of the window, which keeps the handle within easy reach and makes it easier to comply with the relevant standards.

“When the handle is turned 90 degrees, the window can swing inwards like a door, while turning the handle 180 degrees will allow the window to tilt inwards at the top for ventilation.

“The ingenious part is that when homeowners want to close this tilted-in window, there is no need for them to reach up to the top of the open window to push it shut. They just need to turn the handle back again and the mechanism will close the window for them.”

The maximum vent weight of this window system is 80kg, with a maximum vent size of 2.2m2.