Grand Design Brings Mill Back To Life

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A derelict mill in a Cumbrian hamlet has been transformed by Marlin Windows which worked closely with the architect and client to design, fabricate and install 40 aluminium windows and seven doors as part of the project.

Marlin Windows is one of Smart Architectural Aluminium’s key partners.

The blacking mill, a scheduled ancient monument, had lain empty and deteriorating for 60 years and required full restoration.

The four bedroom, four bathroom house, together with workshop and office space featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs programme. The three and a half year self-build project saw a new timber-framed house built using structural insulated panels (SIPS) construction built within the footprint of the existing mill building, with many of the original materials, retained or reclaimed and reused.

 “Our brief was to provide contemporary aluminium windows and doors with flat, square edged profiles that would not only echo the design style and architectural lines of the building but would also maximise the natural light coming into it.”

– Adrian Martin 

Managing director, Marlin Windows

Feature windows

“We were also tasked with ensuring that  the colour and finish were sympathetic to the reclaimed stone and new timber facing materials, as well as the surrounding natural environment,” adds Marlin’s Martin.

For the main feature windows the Marlin team installed Smart’s EcoFutural system with its slim profiles and thermal efficiency enabling the maximum glass area to be achieved. Smart’s Alitherm 800 casement windows were then used elsewhere to provide natural ventilation and fire exits.

Sliding doors

Two large Smart Visoglide Plus sliding doors, featuring slim frames to maximise the glazed area, were incorporated to enhance the open plan living space, flood the room with light and open up the panoramic views beyond.

Kevin McCloud, Grand Designs’ presenter, said of the seven metre wide sliding doors: “That vast window is panoramic, it is like a super-wide cinema screen. It almost completely fills my field of vision.”

Entrance door

Providing a stunning main entrance to the property, a wide Sherbourne door style from Smart’s high-performance Designer Door range was installed, featuring a low threshold for easy access and matching glazed side light. The company’s Alitherm Plus door system was installed for access to the workshop, utility and roof garden areas.

The windows and doors were all painted in textured Vulcan Black from Smart’s sensations colour range, the colour selected to harmonise with the local environment and adjacent materials.

Picture: Smart Windows and doors as featured in a stunning Grand Designs project.

www.smartsytems.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
22nd February 2022

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