Crystal’s Stylish Grey Sheerframe Windows suit Sportcity - 30 November 2006

Sheerframe window fabricator and installer Crystal uPVC has embarked on its latest contract with Countryside Properties involving dark grey coloured PVC windows, doors and curtain walling for apartment blocks at the house builder’s pioneering Sportcity development in Manchester.

Crystal uPVC has already manufactured and installed more than 350 Sheerframe 6000 system casement windows and in-line sliding patio doors for apartments in a nine storey building known as The Cube.  To fit with the development’s contemporary style, many
windows and doors are dark grey foiled (RAL 7016) on the exterior and white internally,
with the remainder traditional white inside and out.

Along with The Cube, Crystal uPVC has completed a further four apartment blocks ranging from seven to thirteen storeys high, again using grey and white combinations to achieve the desired look.

The Sportcity development is located at the heart of East Manchester’s regeneration zone, close to the City of Manchester Stadium and the National Squash and Tennis Centre.  Countryside Properties designed Sportcity in a contemporary urban style with the Sheerframe windows playing a key role.  At The Cube, the grey windows, doors and curtain walling contribute to an ultra-modern canal-side building which also features exposed steel framework and areas of cladding.

Crystal uPVC was able to create the high performance grey finish easily, meaning Countryside could continue its preferred frame choice of PVC, rather than having to resort to more costly and less thermally efficient alternatives.  Aesthetics are balanced carefully with optimum window energy ratings and, as with all Sheerframe windows, the PVC itself is calcium-organic stabilised making it free of lead additives.

Russell Crank, managing director of Crystal uPVC says, “We have worked with Countryside Properties for more than four years now and so we are very familiar with their high specification.  Sportcity is different to many of the Countryside developments that we have worked on and we are very pleased with the contribution that the windows, doors and curtain walling make.”