Dear Chris
When Residence 9, or R9 as it’s become affectionately known, came to market back in 2011, it was a revelation, genuinely ground-breaking and the first ever PVCu flush casement timber alternative window, based on 19 th Century timber window sightlines. Today hundreds of companies throughout the UK and Ireland sell this system to discerning homeowners, supported by a network of nearly 40 diligent manufacturing partners.
The original profile and system design was based on glass bonding from a product engineering perspective, a process widely used and accepted in Europe. Glass bonding within R9 is used to add structural integrity and to make the sashes always perfectly square for consistently equal sightlines.
With a 100mm frame depth, considerable material within the profiles and glass bonding, the system not only looks exceptional but offers unrivalled strength and uniformity in all axis. We work carefully with our manufacturing partners and have developed a detailed technical and fabrication manual, which at present recommends that all windows be glass bonded. That being said, it is always the manufacturer who guarantees the complete manufacture of the product to the installer.
However, over the last 12 months there has been a big move in the industry towards a welded timber look, including the patented Timberweld, and similarly most of the machinery companies have been quick to develop their alternative methodologies. Most offer the appearance of mechanical jointing inside and out, some offer the external timber look with a mitre weld internally, with all benefitting from weld strength to the core.
At present we are undergoing a rigorous testing programme with all of the leading machinery companies to test the various weld methods with The Residence Collection sashes in light and dark foils and across a number of different window and door styles and sizes. It’s a comprehensive process that will be concluded in full within the next 12 weeks, with the first tests completed and showing great promise.
We have tested one window style, which was manufactured using the patented Timberweld technology, for BS 6375-1:2015 weather tightness and BS 6375- 2&3:2009 operation and strength, both of which passed, and we have PAS24:2016 Annex C enhanced security booked in.
Until we have all tests fully concluded and a new technical and fabrication manual issued, we are still recommending that all R9 windows be glass bonded as per our current published guidelines. Above all we want all of our manufacturing partners to produce windows the way they’re meant to be, with today’s and tomorrow’s window and door manufacturing technologies.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Hitchings
Sales and Marketing Director
The Residence Collection
