Selectaglaze secondary glazing assisted with a full-scale renovation of six Grade II Georgian Townhouses into a comfortable and peaceful hotel in London’s prestigious Gloucester Place.
For the past 15 years, The Portman Estate has been restoring its large portfolio to return its buildings up to a modern and luxury standard, whilst ensuring that it preserves the stunning historic features of the buildings.
The Gloucester Place development is the most recent of The Portman Estate’s refurbishment projects, situated in a highly sought after area of London’s West End, across 110 acres of Marylbone. The majority of the buildings along Gloucester Place were built between 1787 and 1792 with terraces being added later and completed in 1820.
Advancements over the coming 7 years to the Portman Estate’s directly managed portfolio will see 13 new and refurbished retail units, over 18,000 sq. ft. of new and refurbished office space, as well as 4 new hotels.
The townhouses’ distinctive features are typical of the Georgian period, with lavish cornices and skirtings inside a uniformed exterior brickwork, including balconies and cast iron railings. The six townhouses were part of an extensive renovation in order to convert the properties into one large hotel. One key problem identified during the alterations, which would affect the ambiance of a hotel stay for guests was the original windows that were thermally inefficient, draughty and prone to noise ingress.
The existing window fixtures were not able to be replaced due to the Listed status of the buildings, so another solution had to be found. Thanks to a great working relationship spanning numerous years, The Portman Estate were advised by Selectaglaze on the best in secondary glazing application for their needs.
Thereafter, a total of 80 secondary glazed units were installed by Selectglaze. The Series 90 was used on windows that were up to 3m high and used up to 10.8mm thick glass. It is a heavy duty vertical sliding unit with specialist balances allowing large and weighty panels to operate easily. The moment thicker glass is used, together with a gap between the primary and secondary glazing of at least 100mm, they work in tandem to prevent the glass from resonating and allowing sound through. This radically reduces the outside noise entering into the room. Using an acoustic laminated glass aids sound absorption even further, resulting in noise reductions of at least 46dB.
All the secondary glazed units were fitted with low-E glass, providing U-values of around 1.8, to help reduce heat loss throughout the building. The addition of bespoke fixtures ensures the most precise fit and high performance seals reduce air leakage and draughts, making the environment more comfortable and thermally effective. Selectaglaze secondary glazing units match existing sight lines wherever possible to make them virtually unnoticeable. As a fully reversible adaptation; they are accepted by most heritage bodies.
Selectaglaze has fifty years’ experience working on all types of buildings, from new build hotels to Listed buildings. Selectaglaze works thoroughly with clients to ensure their desires are met to make buildings warmer, quieter and safer.
