Constructed to the highest possible standards

High performance, environmentally-friendly timber windows and doors by NorDan, were selected for a multi-award-winning office building in Scotland for the Forestry Commission.

The organisation’s new office in Smithton, Inverness, was designed and constructed to the highest possible environmental standards and has earned an ‘excellent’ rating under BREEAM assessment methods. The £1.1 million project had two principal design criteria - use of timber and sustainability.

The building is a substantial project which provides around 650sq m of office space over two storeys with over £40,000 of glazing.

Mark Williams of architects HRI in Inverness explains: “The client brief really allowed us to be free thinkers, to use our imaginations. Having said that, some aspects of the specification were an easy decision. We’ve used NorDan products for 20 years and find the company good to deal with, with high quality products - very few problems or callbacks, and no hassle. It really helps to know we can have confidence in the products we specify.”

The company supplied fixed light windows as well as its fully reversible windows, an advanced design which allows the window sash to be turned through 180 degrees, bringing the external glass to the inside for easy cleaning, eliminating the requirement for a cherry picker for this routine maintenance task.

The windows can also be locked open at approximately 100mm with a safety restrictor, which is the everyday ventilation position. In addition, fully glazed, outward opening double doors were specified for the fire escapes.

The double glazed units are Argon-filled low emissivity glass, which brings the whole window U-value down to 1.4 W/m2K, a substantial improvement on current Building Regulations standards of 1.8 W/m2K. Argon filled cavities are now standard across all NorDan’s ranges of windows and doors.

More information: www.nordan.co.uk