Built in the late 1960s this Central London block has been completely renovated in recent years to create stylish homes right in the heart of the city. With panoramic views as far as the eye can see, the new owners of the penthouse flat worked with Marylebone Interiors to modernise the duplex flat, creating an open plan living space on the top floor with bedrooms on the level below.
One of the key demands of the owners was to identify a door system that allowed them to make the most of the views when the doors were closed, but yet completely connected the living space with the balcony when the doors were closed. Bifold doors were ruled out because the wider frames would have intruded on the view too greatly; whilst the other issue was as the doors were opened and shut the panels would have had to travel along the length of the balcony, preventing the space being used for outdoor furniture.
Sliding doors seemed the most suited option, because three large panels and minimal frames would have perfectly framed the view, however giving up a third of the aperture for a fixed frame wasn’t ideal and the logistics of getting panels sizeable enough to meet the design requirements up the project up to the 23rd floor ruled them out as an option.
Having spent months and months researching solutions the team at Marylebone Interiors visited the IDSystems product display at the Building Centre off Tottenham Court Road and instantly fell in love with the vistaline slide and turn doors.
Not only did the systems’ 45mm sightlines perfectly fit the requirements to make the most of the view, the independent, non-connected panels slide on a single track to the end and turn meaning the balcony was never obstructed at any point. The added bonus was with the five panels being only 2150mm high and the just 1050mm wide they were easily able to fit into the lifts in the building, overcoming the final limitation of the project.
The design features a 5-panel set of slide and turn doors that measure just over 5m across in total. The doors completely open up to extend the open-plan kitchen and living space out on to the balcony and, together with the renovation designed by Marylebone Interiors, have completely transformed the whole space.
The Swiss designed system features an exclusive combination of a tongue-and-grove interlock between the panels, with prevents any drafts getting between the panels even nearly 70m above ground-level; and a patented ‘flipper-seal’ technology that allows the panels to seal to the track when closed yet rotate to lay flat to create a completely flush finish between inside and out.
Whilst the product met the requirements of the customers, for IDSystems the installation proved rather more complex. Despite more than 22 years of fitting doors and windows this was the first time the products had been installed from the inside of a building, so far above ground level.
Our Operations Team worked tirelessly with the designers, homeowners and local council to secure the necessary permissions and by custom-designing the tracks to fit, they were able to be raised to the top of the tower and installed without any complications.
Speaking of the installation Richard Hunter, IDSystems’ Managing Director, said “It was certainly a challenging project to work on and at times it was incredibly complex for us but we were fortunate to be working with a brilliant team at Marylebone Interiors and a very patient and understanding end-client. Over the years we think we’ve done just about every type of installation there could ever be, but this one was a massive test for the whole team and the end result is hugely rewarding.
“This is exactly the type of project that we feel sets IDSystems apart. Another supplier could have convinced the customer to go for fixed frame windows and a set of French doors because it was easy for them, but we were confident we could meet their exact requirements of the project and the end result proved all that hard work was worthwhile.”
