Grand Designs with Kevin McCloud comes to Cornwall

For the second time Camel have worked on this prestigious programme, this time it’s a project at Upton Cross on Bodmin moor, supplying the centre piece of the design which is a huge Schuco sliding patio door with frameless glazing around, giving a panoramic view out of the first floor lounge area towards Dartmoor and the countryside between.

This was a difficult install not just due to the size of the glass panes, with the largest pane over 400kg in weight, plus working blind to the crane operator with the windows installed on the opposite side of the building to him, but also due to the owners desire to minimise the amount of frame exposed to maximise the view. This meant the glass had to be lifted into the property prior to the frames being installed, and then once the frames were installed the suction lifter on the crane was used through the frames to lift the glass back into the frame rebates. There was no room for error as the tolerances were down to millimetres not just on the glass but also on the frame size, our in house CAD designers had worked with the owner on the design and taking careful measurements on site to confirm it would fit.

All was completed on the day with staff from both our Barnstaple and Holsworthy branch’s working together. Camel have worked o the Grand design show previously installing large glass panels on a project at Callington, where the owner converted the redundant engine house on an old tin mine to his home.

We have also worked with channel 4 and George Clarke on the Home show, where in London we provided a frameless glazing solution to a stairs and landing to add light and space to the property.

Brentor

Developing a trust & understanding with the owners, so we completely understood there desired vision for this project, we then work closely with the architect, builder and steel fabricators, passing on our experiences and knowledge of working on similar projects to help achieve the desired design.

Here, huge double glazed units weighing over 500KG are supported on the top and bottom edge only, with silicone butt joints and no frame supports on the vertical between the panes. The top and bottom edge framing will be lost into the building design and with no corner posts in the framing line will give the impression of a complete frameless structure. Separating the new from the traditional Dartmoor cottage.

The glass make up includes a 19mm thick inner pane to withstand the windy conditions of Dartmoor but also have a special coating to the glass enabling this to achieve a U value of 1.0.

Totnes

Working with the Architects we helped to bring this modern design within the owner’s budget, yet still achieving there desired aesthetical outcome.

Here the owner had recently purchased the property and was undertaking a complete renovation, the original building dated back to the 16th century, it had been dramatically extended and altered in the 18th century. The owner’s desire was not to try and fit to this traditional design but to have a modern glass sunroom which still blended with the old but shouted its 21st century origin.

Large sliding triple track doors were installed, with fixed panes of glass to give a modern, light filled & airy feel, melting the gap between inside and out, and a complete contrast to the rest of the building but still beautifully blending into the surroundings.

Falmouth

We were initially approached by the builders on this project near Falmouth for assistance in finding a suitable and acceptable window & door system, one that met the owners requirements in aesthetical appeal and would match both externally but also internally to the design of the property and it’s interior decoration.

The owner was building a country retreat and was unhappy with the windows & doors supplied by the previous installers and demanded that these be replaced with something more acceptable to his requirements.

This requirement was for extreamly large opening casements, dealing with the architects and off plan we all felt would be best dealt with by the use of tilt turn windows, but on survey it was discovered that due to the design of the construction and the curvature of the building this system of windows would not work, so we therefore looked at what options were available within the Schuco range, opting for the AWS75 system of outward casements which allow for side hung openings as wide a 1400mm with Uvalues as low as 1.2 with Triple glazing.

The installation was completed to the satisfaction of all.