Roto Inside 24 (EN)

Roto Inside | 6.2013 4 | Palast Wilanów Renovation preserves historical characteristics ■■ Timber Located at the southern city border of Warsaw, Palace Wilanów is often called the “Polish Versailles” by art historians and tourists.The palace was built between 1677 and 1696 for King Jan III Sobieski and particularly features baroque forms. In recent years, the whole complex has been lovingly renovated, including around 200 windows. “The restoration of listed buildings is always a challenge,” says Jan Głodek. The certified restoration expert was in charge of the reconstruction and renewal of all building elements and constructions. “Every window had to be considered as an individual piece. In the end, only two of the 200 renovated windows used the same dimensions and installation method.” The work started by establishing an inventory and documenting all the existing windows and different window types in Palace Wilanów. It was easy to see that even the baroque window manufacturers had spent time thinking about how air and light Two for every need: authorised experts and timber window specialists used these two windows from the Royal Library of the Wilanów Palace as prototypes for reproduction. Aluman The experts with “sandwich expertise” ■■ Aluminium The history of the Swedish window and door manufacturer Aluman dates back to 1979.Yet the company that is now part of the P.Wikström J:r AB Group has hardly anything in common with the company from those days and the business it was involved in (in the early days for example, it manufactured aluminium doors for caravans and ships’ portholes). Perhaps the closest remaining commonality can be found in the name, which is a combination of “aluminium” and “manufacture”. In the opinion of Managing Director Hans Granholm, this is a name that still remains pertinent. Efficient and simple to fabricate, attractive and timeless in design, flexible and adaptable – for Hans Granholm these are the main criteria that windows and doors in sandwich elements must meet.Hans Granholm, General Manager of Aluman The company still concentrates on manufactur ing high-quality aluminium windows and doors, and it is doing so with increasing success. Being one of the companies in Sweden experiencing the most rapid and sustained growth, Aluman received the distinction of being named as a “Gazelle Company” in 2008. As recently as 2012, the company invested in a far-reaching expansion and modernisation of the production facilities at its main site in Ånäset. That is where a total of 23 employees are currently working toward the company’s further success. And in Hans Granholm’s opinion, one of the reasons for this success is the Aluman team’s special expertise. “We have specialised in the production of windows and doors that can be integrated into sandwich facade elements. That’s why you will often find our products in large office and industrial buildings and in sports facility construction. We have developed a patented profile system for this that allows very simple and quick installation. No extra moulded parts, brackets or special tools are required. The time saved during installation and the lack of any need for tools means that the average costs of a prefabricated Aluman window are reduced by up to 20 percent compared with the usual systems”, explains Hans Granholm. as the double window, with a smaller external and a larger inner sash; the coupled window; as well as the single-glazed window, which again represents the modern version of the casement window with insulating glazing. Jan Głodek is thrilled: “Even after the restoration, the visitor can still experience and investigate many facets of historical window manufacturing skills.” Keeping up appearances “In spite of all efforts towards classification, the construction method does not tell us much about the individual design. The first step in the redevelopment of a listed window is therefore inventory and graphic documentation of the installation condition, also considering hidden connections and constructions. The refur- bishment project of the Wilanów Palace began with the thorough examination of two windows of the Royal Library, which had been chosen as prototypes. After an in-depth assessment of the interplay between the design, colour, glazing, and glazing bar posi- tion with the interior and facade view, the necessary adjustments were made and then applied gradually to all the windows and balcony doors. Even if two adjacent windows seemed identical at first sight, further inspection of the designs often revealed significant differences.” No standard solutions The different types of locks and hinges were another challenge for the expert. The hardware system did not only have to comply with the strict aesthetic and functional requirements of a historical building; it also had to enable easy operation and guarantee economic efficiency. “Thanks to Roto’s NT range, we had access to a lot of different variants to cover all possible solutions flexibly whilst preserving functionality. A particularly innovative feature was the replication of surface-mounted twist locking-rods for the multitude of inward and outward opening windows. This rod is purely decorative in its function. The espagnolette taken from the NT modular system is operated simply by turning the ancient han- dle. The replica covering plates over the espagnolette casing, used on replaced windows in the Picture Gallery, represent another solution true to the original.” Efficient, timeless, flexible Efficient and simple to fabricate, attractive and timeless in design, flexible and adaptable – for the window professional, these are the main criteria that windows and doors in sandwich elements must meet. And it seems that these Ånäset-made products do this with flying col- ours, because they are in demand throughout Europe with investors, architects and large con- struction companies in equal measure. “Besides Sweden, Norway is one of our most important sales markets. However, we also regularly devel- op solutions for customers in Denmark, Finland and a few other important European markets.” The collaboration between Aluman and Roto is still comparatively recent. “Recent, but wonder- fully uncomplicated right from Day One. We have been working with our trading partner Göthes Svenssons for many years. And it was through them that we first came into contact with Roto products. Following a visit to Roto at BAU 2011 in Munich and a subsequent presenta- tion at Göthes Svenssons, we took a decision to change over to Roto hardware. Since then, the AluVision T 600 has more than proven its worth in our products and it is the perfect addition to our unique installation system”, reports Hans Granholm with satisfaction. “Polish Versailles”: The replacement of the windows in Palace Wilanów near Warsaw took almost half a decade. could enter the building whilst losing as little warmth as possible through the windows. According to Jan Głodek, “At the time, this was a job that only windows with two parallel sashes could do.” Historical evidence For Mr. Głodek, for instance, inward and outward opening case- ment windows are a true masterpiece of previous eras. If two sashes were installed parallel to each other, the interior sash was inward opening and the exterior sash was outward opening. In state rooms, the jambs between the inner and outer frames were connected further to give the appearance of frame windows. This construction can be found in many balcony doors of the Royal Palace in Warsaw. The same principle was used for the one-sashed frame windows of the Middle Ages, which opened inward and outward. Later on, a double-sashed version was introduced. Today you still see different variants of this construction in Palace Wilanów, such

Roto Inside 24 (EN)

Pages