Sapa Elegance's stylish contribution to canalside homes in Worcester

Diglis Water is centred on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal and the once hectic Diglis Basin, where Taylor Wimpey Homes has been the lead developer for a design and build scheme, working with Warwick based Robothams Architects to create the design concepts.

Cannock based Douglas Commercial has, meanwhile, been a Midlands based member of Sapa Group’s installer network responsible for designing, manufacturing and fitting some £750K worth of Dualframe 75 Si windows and Dualframe Dualsecure doors as well as the Elegance 52 curtain walling.

Jon Moore of Robothams Architects commented: “Our practice prepared both the design and the detailed drawings for the project which then went out to Taylor Wimpey’s supply chain; with Douglas Commercial having been successful in winning the work for the D1, D2 and D3 buildings.

“From the outset we were looking to see aluminium frames used in RAL 7012 and the Elegance 52, along with the Dualframe systems, provided the sightlines we wanted. In particular Sapa and Douglas Commercial were able to produce tilt and turn windows of the scale required, and the outcome for these three blocks has been very good overall.” 

The Managing Director of Douglas Commercial, Howard Douglas, added: “This has been a high-profile project where we have worked with the main contractor and Robothams Architects over a number of phases.  We have installed the Elegance 52 curtain walling together with Dualframe Dualsecure doors to the main entrances, and Dualframe 75 Si windows throughout the apartments and penthouses.

“The project team has been very pleased with not just the appearance of the systems we have supplied, but their all-round quality, including the fact they feature heavy duty hinges and other hardware. We have also fitted the same systems in some of the houses and apartments that are to be managed by a social housing provider. This has been a very successful partnership with Sapa whose area manager, Paul Davies is in regular contact with us.”

Elegance 52 ST curtain walling is an externally capped, thermally broken curtain wall system that offers many design options through the use of different mullions and cover caps.

Several special locations such as 90° angle mullions or variable angles have been designed with a minimal use of material; resulting in slim sight-lines admired by Jon Moore of Robothams.

The Diglis Water project has been phased over a four-year period and delivered a mix of 363 private homes plus 73 affordable units and a dozen refurbished properties.

The scheme has not only earned acclaim locally, but also NHBC awards and been a commercial success. The total redevelopment of Worcester’s waterfront, including creating 40,000 square feet of retail space, is expected to take ten years.