Commercial Heritage - Lanchester Free School

Windows and doors from our Alitherm Heritage range featured in the refurbishment of the Art Deco-style Lanchester Building in Watford, the building being locally listed due both to its historical and its architectural significance.

Originally built in 1938, the Lanchester Building has been completely transformed by Martindales Architects into a two-form entry primary school and nursery for West Herts Community Free School Trust, and is now home to the Lanchester Community Free School.

With a design requirement to retain the slim lines of the building’s original steel windows, so closely associated with Art Deco buildings, over 70 window assemblies (covering approximately 650m² in total) and 15 door entrance assemblies were installed from our Alitherm Heritage range, the doors being set in the Smart Wall framing system. The window and door profiles were all finished in white polyester powder coating at our state-of-the-art paint facility, matching the materials being replaced and providing a robust, durable and low-maintenance finish.

Despite a particularly tight build programme to meet the school’s opening date, the windows and doors were all installed on-time by Dotcom Glazing who worked closely throughout the project with Smart’s technical support team, Martindales and the main contractor, Borras Construction.