Steel windows restored to Murrays Mills

Member of the Steel Window Association has completed a contract to fabricate and install bespoke double-glazed frames in, Murrays' Mills, a listed industrial building.

A member of the Steel Window Association has completed a contract to fabricate and install bespoke double-glazed frames in a listed industrial building as part of a far reaching restoration project intended to prepare it for further redevelopment.

Located in Manchester, Murrays' Mills was built by two brothers between 1797 and 1806 to house their textile business.

As the largest steam powered spinning mill in the world, the property drew many visitors from home and abroad and is now Grade II* listed.

Production ceased in the Fifties and the building stood largely empty from around the time of the Millennium until it was purchased by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) and leased to the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust (ABPT) to carry out the repairs to the buildings.

ABPT engaged Building Design Partnership (BDP) to oversee the complex task of making it structurally sound behind a restored, weather-tight shell.

As part of this work Rea Metal Windows of Liverpool produced made to measure W40 frames featuring a special glazing bead which achieves the appearance of traditional putty glazed timber fenestration.

BDP comments: "Murrays' Mills has been carefully conserved and its structure strengthened to enable it to carry modern floor loadings".

"The elevations are mainly of brick".

"All but one of the original windows had been replaced by more recent nine-pane wooden windows, many of which had rotted".

"To return the property to its original appearance, Rea Metal Windows was awarded a contract to produce new steel windows which matched the appearance of the original windows".

A total of 500 windows were manufactured for the project, finished in a grey polyester powder coat over the hot dip galvanized coating.

Installed into timber sub-frames, each window comprises an 18 pane horizontal pivot beneath an 18 pane fixed light.

The great majority of the frames measured 1350 wide by 1800 mm high while each of the 36 individual glazing units they hold is 16 mm thick and contained a 6 mm outer pane with a 6 mm cavity and a 4 mm inner.

This glazing solution was subject to concession under Part L of the Building Regulations and was arrived at in consultation with an acoustician so as to optimise the sound performance of the windows.

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