Unique offering wins key project

Deceuninck fabricator FastFrame supplied more than 1,800 tilt and turn windows and doors in a £2.1m deal after demonstrating its PVC-U products could replace the specified aluminium ones. We report.

Cortland Cassiobury on Ascot Road in Watford, is a 485-home build-to-let scheme, developed by American-based Cortland. The first phase of the project involved the construction of five multi-storey blocks, the largest of which has 23 floors.

Having passed the planning process with aluminium windows, the client later sought to cost-engineer the project. FastFrame was approached for an opinion after architects saw completed FastFrame projects using Linktrusion profile from Deceuninck. The architects liked the fact that Linktrusion products could replicate the look and size of aluminium windows, but at a reduced cost.

After an initial meeting with Cortland engineers in the UK, FastFrame then airfreighted a window sample to Atlanta Georgia, so Cortland’s CEO could sign it off personally.

After winning the tender process, FastFrame took on full design responsibility for the building’s interfaces, allowing the fabricator to ensure the building envelope was fully weathertight, fit for purpose, and had no inherent defects for the completed build.

This was a contractual obligation and required extra investment of £98k. FastFrame then provided the scheduling for all the windows, and all the interface designs for every window type and every window aperture.

FastFrame worked with Deceuninck to prove that the windows and patio doors were fit for purpose on the higher floors – one block was 23 storeys high. This included demonstrating that the products would cope with the higher wind pressure at the greater height, and that they would be weathertight. This was completed via testing and simulation programmes.

FastFrame supplied products for 1,872 apertures across all five blocks. These include: Deceuninck 5000 tilt and turn windows – Decoroc-coated in umbra grey; balcony doors manufactured using a fibre-glass reinforced profile (Linktrusion) from Deceuninck, which allowed them to go up to 1,100mm wide and 2,400mm high, which can’t be achieved in PVC-U; Decalu patio doors from Deceuninck, which were colour-matched with the PVC-U products; and all the aluminium cills.

Two USPs put FastFrame in the running for the Cassiobury project, and gave the client full confidence that its solutions would be a perfect fit. Firstly, FastFrame is the only UK fabricator to manufacture Deceuninck’s full PVC-U range, including Linktrusion; and FastFrame is the only company outside Belgium to apply Deceuninck’s unique Decoroc coating to products.

In 2020, FastFrame invested more than £150k in a Decoroc paint line – the first of its kind outside Deceuninck’s headquarters in Belgium. Decoroc is Deceuninck’s patented colour coating system. It gives a high-performance, long-lasting finish which matches aluminium powder coating for looks and performance. Scratch, impact, and abrasion resistant, Decoroc is micro-sprayed for a highly durable, easy-clean matt finish and comes with a 15-year guarantee. It comes in a wide choice of RAL colours and is ideal for demanding commercial applications.

FastFrame is also the only UK fabricator to manufacture products in Deceuninck’s Linktrusion profile, which is reinforced using fibre glass. This allows windows and doors to go to larger sizes where PVC-U wouldn’t typically be considered. Linktrusion also comes in at about 60% of the cost of aluminium.

The original project start date was February 2020 and scheduled to run to February 2022. Due to complications on site and the restrictions brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic, windows were not required on site until August 2020 – six months later than originally planned.

Rather than pushing back the end date, FastFrame played a significant part in helping to bring the completion date forward to December 2021. So, a two-year project was completed in a year and a quarter. This was driven by main contractor Henry Construction Projects (HCPL) but expedited by FastFrame.

FastFrame worked closely with the installation team – APW Installations – so that product was delivered on time. Part of the strategy to bring forward the completion date was that the five blocks were built concurrently rather than consecutively. This required careful negotiation between the different parties on site to effect an error-free build.

This change in demand happened after the project got underway, so FastFrame had to adapt accordingly.

Thanks to the success of phase one, Cortland has expressed its desire to use the same window for phase two, and to continue working with FastFrame.