Visitors to Oxford’s
Green Gables guest house will need to set their alarm clocks because, thanks to Admiral Windows, the roar of the morning rush hour will now be a thing of the past.
Green Gables is an AA ‘highly commended’ guest house situated on Abingdon Road, the main thoroughfare into Oxford city from the south. The large Edwardian building features over sixty individual windows, most of which were vertical sliding sash units featuring weights and pulleys. Because of the style and age of these windows, secondary glazing units had been fitted inside guest bedrooms, in an attempt to improve heat and sound insulation.
Green Gables’ owners tasked Admiral
Windows with fitting suitable replacement windows for the building. These new units would need to eliminate the need for secondary glazing, while reducing maintenance requirements.
I asked Admiral Windows’ installations manager Ashton Crawley about the challenges of the job.
‘There was much making good to do, where the original frames and secondary glazing had been fitted,’ Ashton told me. ‘In all, we fitted fifty-six individual windows, including a new door combination to the rear of the property.’
How did Admiral tackle the issue of road noise?
‘We used laminated double-glazed sealed units. These break up the resident frequency of the sound waves and reduce outside noise by a considerable amount. In my opinion, by a lot more than either standard double or even triple glazed window units.’
And these are low-maintenance designs?
‘Yes. The design we agreed with the client was for a much simpler top hung with bottom opening sash window unit, with chrome coloured handles. These made for a transformation of every room where they were applied. Once we had finished the fitting job, I went from room to room with Green Gables’ cleaner, who was delighted by the reduction in her workload!’
How long did the whole job take?
‘The complete installation, from start to finish, took us less than a working week, including removing all waste from site and separating out the recyclable items. This meant the least disruption was caused to their business and they could continue boarding customers as usual.’
Many thanks to Green Gables’ owners Mr and Mrs Bhella for choosing Admiral Windows. We hope that their clients will enjoy peaceful stays at Green Gables for many years to come.
Green Gables guest house can be contacted on 01865 725870
