For the past 15 years, The Portman Estate has been restoring its huge portfolio, bringing its buildings up to 21st century standards whilst ensuring it retains the striking historic features of the buildings.

The Gloucester Place development is the latest of The Portman Estate’s refurbishment projects, nestled in its prime area of London’s West End, spanning through 110 acres of Marylebone. The majority of buildings along Gloucester Place were built between 1787 and 1792. Terraces were added later and completed in 1820.

In the next seven years, The Portman Estate’s directly managed portfolio will advance more with 13 new and refurbished retail units, over 180,000 sq. ft. of new and refurbished office space and four new hotels.

The townhouses were typical of the Georgian period with ornate cornices and skirtings inside an uniformed exterior brickwork together with balconies and cast iron railings. The six townhouses went through an elaborate renovation to merge the properties into one large hotel. A key issue found during the transformation was the original windows, which were draughty, thermally inept and allowed noise ingress – not a comfortable environment for guests of a hotel.

Due to the buildings being of a Listed status, the existing windows could not be replaced, so an alternative solution was required. Owing to a great working relationship spanning a number of years, The Portman Estate sought advice from Selectaglaze on the best secondary glazing application for their requirements.

Selectaglaze installed in excess of 80 secondary glazed units. The Series 90 was selected on the larger windows which were up to 3m high and used up to 10.8mm thick glass. It is a heavy duty vertical sliding unit with specialist balances which allow large and weighty panels to operate with ease. When thicker glass is used, coupled with a gap between the primary and secondary glazing of at least 100mm; they work together to prevent the glass from resonating and letting sound through. This dramatically reduces any outside noise entering into the room. Using an acoustic laminated glass helps in further sound absorption, resulting in noise reductions of at least 46dB.

All the secondary glazed units were fitted with low-E glass, which provides U-values of around 1.8, to help reduce heat loss in the building. The inclusion of bespoke fixings for the tightest fit and high performance seals minimises air leakage and draughts, making the environment more comfortable and thermally efficient. Selectaglaze secondary glazing units match existing sight lines wherever possible to make them virtually unnoticeable and as a fully reversible adaptation; they are accepted by most heritage bodies.

Selectaglaze has fifty years’ experience working on all types of buildings from Listed offices to new build hotels. Selectaglaze works closely with clients to ensure their requirements are met to make buildings warmer, quieter and safer.

Selectaglaze are set to exhibit a range of its products between February 18 and 19, 2017 at The Listed Property Show, Olympia London. It is a two-day free event aimed at those interested in renovating conserving or buying heritage buildings. This event brings together the industry’s best, under one roof. Selectaglaze will be displaying secondary glazing solutions on both days at Stand B22.

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