With two landmark residential schemes planned for Stockport’s Town Centre West regeneration zone, the contractors, installers and fabricators involved needed a window supplier capable of hitting demanding energy, thermal and aesthetic requirements. Rehau’s track record and existing partnerships made its systems a natural solution.

King Street West is a £14.5 million contract covering 73 apartments, secured through the Innovation Chain North (ICN) Framework led by Great Places Housing Association. Hargreaves Contracting won the contract via a two-stage tender in 2022, in what became one of Great Places’ first major apartment developments.

The apartments operate on a rent-to-buy basis, let for five years at 20% below market rate so tenants can build a deposit and move towards ownership. Residents also benefit from roof gardens, communal lobbies and co-working lounges.

Social value sat at the centre of the brief, reflecting the National Social Value pledges central to the ICN framework. Delivering against both social and environmental goals meant Hargreaves Contracting required an installer, fabricator and product capable of meeting exacting expectations.

Hargreaves has worked alongside installer, New Look Windows, for more than 25 years, a period in which the firm has grown its presence in social housing. For King Street West, New Look Windows sourced window and door frames through an established Rehau fabricator. The ICN framework specifies Rehau profiles for their proven reliability, a view echoed by New Look Windows as a long-standing advocate of the brand.

Overcoming the obstacles
Alongside its social ambitions, King Street West presented a unique set of technical hurdles, that Rehau’s technical team was brought in to help resolve.

An overheating assessment identified the need for several glazing types within individual apartments, balancing solar gain (G-values) against heat loss (U-values). Sitting close to a busy road, railway and airport, the site also faced considerable noise, prompting acoustician Azymuth Acoustics to specify glass on an apartment-by-apartment basis.

Working together, Rehau, the acousticians, energy assessors and the New Look Windows design team produced a detailed schedule governing glass specification for every window, ensuring each competing requirement was satisfied.

A fabric-first approach followed, using low G-value solar control glass to reduce reliance on expensive comfort cooling. Mechanical cooling was ultimately confined to one communal lounge.

Groundwork pays off
That planning paid off during installation, which New Look Windows completed smoothly between June 2024 and June 2025. Frames were fitted into light gauge steel panels manufactured by Metsec, allowing off-site panelisation and quicker erection ahead of the brickwork. The approach delivered watertightness and let the brick facade progress in parallel, lifting site productivity.

Close to 300 Total70 window and door combinations were installed. Specifying a single system throughout simplified procurement and made installation more straightforward.

Neil Ashworth, managing director at Hargreaves Contracting, said:

“Rehau’s profiles met the high standards this project demanded, including energy performance certificate (EPC) and standard assessment procedure ratings. Combined with design expertise from our long-standing installer, New Look Windows, that produced an excellent outcome. The products performed, and they looked the part too.

“The colour and profile range available from Rehau meant we could select an agate (pearl) grey finish, which has lifted the exterior and become a genuine talking point.”

Meeting energy, acoustic and thermal targets was central to King Street West, but so was ensuring local people and the workforce gained from the build, as the ICN framework requires.

Rob Benn, commercial sales manager at Rehau, said: “Working on King Street has been hugely rewarding. It has set a benchmark and become a reference point for other high-specification social housing schemes nationally, and the pride Stockport takes in the development is clear.

“TotalL70 in particular had the chance to demonstrate what it can do. It looks excellent and satisfied every standard the ICN framework sets. This was a genuine team effort, and we expect its influence to be felt on social housing projects elsewhere.”

Click here to find out more about Rehau’s social housing services.