Situated on the corner of Trumpington Street and Mill Lane, in the quintessentially English university city of Cambridge, three neighbouring buildings forming part of Pembroke College’s estate have recently been renovated, which was no easy task. One of which is the Grade II Listed Kenmare House designed and built by James Essex c.1760, a prolific constructor in Cambridge, with many of his buildings now making up the University’s Estate.

Pleasance Hookham and Nix were contracted by the College to put the architectural plans together of how the buildings would be reconfigured, to house the Master, Finance, Human Resources and International Programmes Teams and Fellows accommodation, who were being moved across the road from the main building. The rooms on the front elevation, including a space to become a meeting room with statement Venetian windows, overlooked an extremely busy thoroughfare with tour buses and cars passing in front as well as the continual stream of bicycles found throughout the city. Due to its Listing, the original single pane windows had to be retained, so a solution to combat the noise ingress and thermal inefficiencies had to be sought. Selectaglaze was contacted early in the design process, which made the incorporation of the secondary glazing far more efficient. Many site visits were held to discuss the window opening preparatory work Coulson Building Group would need to undertake and the best frame styles to suit.

One window in particular posed a bigger challenge. The main view out of the corner of the building on Mill Lane, was an ornate large curved on plan sliding sash. Fortuitously, Selectaglaze has just finished developing a new Series 25 vertical sliding curved on plan unit; previously it was only available as a casement. This new product proved to be the best solution, as it matched the sightlines of the original perfectly and glides effortlessly within the frame.

Over 60 units were installed throughout the buildings. On the front elevation, where noise ingress was a larger concern, the secondary glazing was installed with a larger cavity, to create the sound insulation. On the rear of the building the glazing was mainly for thermal and one intricately etched large window overlooking a flat roof, had a large Secured by Design unit installed for added security.

A range of styles were included in the design including, Series 10 - 2 and 3 pane horizontal sliders, Series 20 vertical sliders and Series 45 side hung casements (plus more). Some windows had arched heads, so special timber grounds were produced in the workshop, with a great deal of scribing and care taken during installation on site.