Two large sets of steel windows and doors have created a feeling of space in a kitchen extension to a late 19th-century Victorian terrace house in a Conservation Area close to Tufnell Park in North London.
The screens, from Steel Window Association member, Steel Window Service and Supplies, also allowed the new work to blend with the existing interior design and the many original features of the house while ensuring a high level of security.
Replacing an unremarkable existing rear garden extension, the new single-storey brick built extension has significantly improved the external appearance of the three-storey, five bedroom semi-detached house. It has also contributed to the improved internal spatial arrangement and flow of the ground floor, making it the heart of family living, dining and entertaining.
Steel Window Services and Supplies created full working drawings before being commissioned to manufacture the near identical screens, each measuring over 4m wide by some 2.4m high. Both screens have a set of full-height double doors that open out. They are finished with a factory-applied polyester power coating in RAL 7016 matt anthracite, a colour that matches with the kitchen units, sits well with the external brickwork and contrasts with the white internal walls.
The narrow sightlines of the steel doors complement those of the existing timber sliding sashes and establish an excellent connection to the sizeable rear garden, while making for a light and airy internal space. Both double doors were fitted with self-aligning hinges and can be held open at 180 degrees with traditional cabin hooks.
The window and door frames are formed of purpose-made hot-rolled W20 steel sections that were hot-dip galvanised. To ensure thermal performance, the latest 16mm high specification double glazing units tested by the Steel Window Association were employed. They achieve a centre pane U-value of 1.0 W/m2K and an overall frame and glass U value of 1.8 W/m2K based on the standard reference door calculation method.
For the doors, hand-made solid brass Frank Allart Soho ironmongery with an aged bronze un-lacquered finish was chosen. The working drawings produced by Steel Window Services and Supplies were invaluable when ordering the ironmongery and also in ensuring the internal and external threshold levels were correct and exactly as the client wished.
