Luxury residential development in London to use Wicona windows, doors

Over 1,000 high-performance aluminium windows and balcony doors from Sapa's Wicona brand will be installed at a new luxury residential development now under construction in London's Docklands. 

Developed by Landor, a subsidiary of The Ballymore Group, and under construction by Balfour Beatty, the £110 million Providence Tower will have spectacular views over Canary Wharf, the River Thames and the City of London.

The international architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has designed Providence Tower, which will provide 484 waterfront homes at New Providence Wharf. Most of the apartments will be in a 43-floor tower, with the remainder in an adjacent 12-story, curved podium wing called the Bar Building.

The 136-meter-high tower is due for completion in 2016.

Technical criteria

Wicona, one of Sapa’s aluminium building systems brands, has developed and engineered the door and window solutions in collaboration with fabricators, Lindner Fassaden.

“The specification of Wicona’s balcony doors to the tower was driven by performance,” says project architect Andy Karaiskos of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

“There were a number of technical criteria which had to be met for a building of this height, and particularly the system’s resistance to wind loadings. Other factors included air permeability, safety and security, thermal and weather capabilities, acoustic protection, and aesthetics. Wicona’s WICLINE evo suite met all the performance requirements.”

Maximize natural light

More than 650 WICLINE 75 evo side hung and fixed light casement windows will be used for the apartments in the Bar Building. These will be internally glazed with trickle ventilation through a fixed spandrel or fixed transom above the window.

The largest window spans up to 2.4 meters high to maximize natural light and provide floor-to-ceiling glazing. The units will be finished in silver anodizing externally and grey polyester powder coating internally to complement interior and exterior design themes. The windows also meet Class RC2 and Class RC3 for burglar resistance.

Around 500 WICLINE evo single-leaf, inward-opening balcony doors are to be used for the tower. For the low-level curved Bar Building, Wicona will supply 110 outward-opening balcony doors with fixed side lights. The doors for both buildings will feature a barrier-free threshold for disabled access, and a number will be delivered in line with burglar resistance to Class RC3.

•Visit wicona.com for more information about the brand’s solutions and services