ALPRO AT HISTORIC BUILDING IN WEST END
Transom door closers, bespoke pull handles and locks from Alpro Architectural Hardware have been installed at Henry Wood House, The Office Group’s new flexible work space on Riding House Street, in the heart of London’s West End.
The 16-storey property is an historic former BBC building that has been transformed to provide design-led flexible offices and co-working space. Fabricator IDF Aluminium has used Alpro’s transom closers in aluminium partitions within the building, and the concealed nature of the closers (within the transom header bar of the doors) has preserved the aesthetics of a design by architects Buckley Gray Yeoman.
The Alpro transom closers are a means of hydraulically controlling the opening and closing of aluminium doors. They enable facility managers to adjust the latching and closing force created by the hydraulic valve according to the weight and height of individual doors as well as type of usage.
Design and aesthetics are a major consideration for The Office Group and Alpro modified their Functional 98 pull handles with a bespoke overrun at either end to suit the project. The pull handles are manufactured from 316-grade stainless steel and can be straight or offset. They are supplied with bolt-thru or back-to-back fixings as standard and powder or nylon-coated finishes to the user’s precise colour requirements can be specified and delivered to short lead times.
Keith Parry, Sales Director at Alpro, said: “Our transom closers are designed for durability and have been tested independently at 250,000 double-action cycles. Internal use of the kind seen at Henry Wood House is unusual but the glass partition areas in the building are extensive. It’s rewarding to work on an historic building named after the conductor Sir Henry Wood and our components form part of a fit-out performed to the highest design standards.”
He continued: “We already have a strong presence in Westminster and our bolt-and-strike plates are in use at the nearby University of Westminster in Regent Street. The Office Group has used Alpro equipment on four other projects and the architects have even used our components at their own premises, the iconic Tea Building in Shoreditch. ”
IDF Aluminium specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of aluminium doors. The door solutions are designed for use in commercial and public sector environments where usage may be high but maintenance costs must be minimised.
The company has 30 years’ experience in the shop front and commercial door market. IDF Aluminium ensures a quality service by designing and fabricating all of its doors and shop fronts in-house with no use of sub-contractors. The client portfolio covers transport, local government, healthcare and education from schools through to universities.