Recognised
with an award for excellence in design and construction, Carlton Works is a
development of six one-bedroom apartments and a two-bedroom penthouse; these
are created within a building built in 1916 when it was known as the New
Theatre.
To add
to the high-end warehouse feel of the development, led by Open Architecture, 28
steel windows and doors of varying sizes were designed and manufactured by
Steel Window Association member Govette Windows.
The
building on St Johns Hill, in Sevenoaks, Kent, has been much altered over the
years and the award from the Sevenoaks Society recognises the latest phase in
its life.
The former New Theatre reopened as the Carlton Cinema in September
1935, having been extensively rebuilt with a new art nouveau-style façade and
seating for 325 in the stalls and 70 in the circle. The cinema finally closed
around 1954 and was divided into upper and lower factory spaces.
When
the Crawley Building Company bought the building, it was in a dilapidated
state.
The front facade was demolished and rebuilt in brick while the side and
rear elevations were rendered and a modern rooftop extension was added to form
the penthouse.
Although the building had earlier steel windows, these were in a
poor state and their positions unsuitable for the plan of the apartments so new
openings were formed to house the windows and doors produced by Govette. Some
open onto Juliet balconies.
The
windows and doors are manufactured from W20 sections and hot dip galvanised and
polyester powder coated in RAL 7021 matt black grey. All are double glazed with
16mm krypton filled units and low E external panes.
For
the penthouse, Govette created an internal glazed main door between the hallway
and living area. This creates continuity with the other steel windows but the
steel was left in its 'raw' state, with no galvanising or painting, so it can
take on a rusty patina and the welds and other marks are visible.
Terry
Crawley, director, Crawley Building Company, comments: "The metal window
style works well when you're building warehouse type apartments. I wanted to
use local companies and was recommended to Govette.
"They helped with the
drawings and they certainly put their input into the finished design. They did
an extremely good job and delivered exactly what they said they would without
any problems; I'd definitely use them again."
