Graham: Project So Successful, It “Should Be a Model for Future Projects”

It went so well that the condo board president said in a letter to residents, “In timeliness, efficiency and communications, this project should be a model for future Watergate at Landmark projects.”

Graham Architectural Products supplied more than 3,700 of its 0300 Series horizontal windows and more than 1,500 of its 0900 Series sliding doors for the four, 16-story buildings. Working with HiRise Windows, Graham was able to help the customer complete the project two years ahead of its original completion target date.

“Graham did a great job,” says Mark Drake, a registered architect who owns his own firm, and who was part of the committee that oversaw the project on behalf of the condominium owners’ association. “Graham has a great product, they came out to the site many times, and they provided great support throughout the entire project. We’re all very happy with it.”

Drake, who is also a member of the condominium’s board of directors, said Graham provided a solution when the 20 or so residents who use wheelchairs found it difficult to surmount the threshold in the sliding glass doors. “We had no way of recessing that threshold in the existing concrete decks,” Drake says, “so we had to have some kind alternative solution and Graham came up with a ramp that worked.”

Graham was not the customer’s first choice as window supplier.

Drake explains, saying, “Graham became the selected supplier because they seemed to be more reliable that the other company, who, quite frankly, got flakier as time went on. We got so nervous about the original supplier, that we basically pulled the deal even though Graham was more expensive.

“And in the end, we were glad we did, because even though Graham cost more money, Graham’s windows performed better in every way. So we thought, well, while we’re spending more money, we’re getting real value for our money.”

Specifically, that “real value” includes higher performing structural loading ability for wind loads, acoustics (sound reduction), and better thermal performance. Previously, there were drafts around the windows and condensation on the inside panes during the winter. All that no longer happens.

More importantly, while the Graham windows may have cost a little more, the payout on performance has been dramatic.

“We are saving a lot of money on electricity with the new windows.” Drake says. “It has to be coming from the windows. We think that we’re seeing a savings of at least 20 percent in our energy costs because of the new windows.”