Low maintenance costs combined with a traditional appearance persuaded Lioncourt Homes and GTC to press for planners to approve the Modus flush casement PVC-U window system from Eurocell.
Gloucester City Homes (GCH) has a total of 20 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes on the Bentham Green development being built by Lioncourt Homes under a Section 106 agreement (based on that section of the 1990 Town & Country Planning Act), with half to be rented while half will be in shared ownership.
The estate is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that comes under the jurisdiction of Tewkesbury Borough Council’s planning department, which uses the Cotswold Design Code as its reference, so the planners were insistent that flush casement timber windows should be fitted.
However, Lioncourt Homes felt that timber windows would compromise its reputation for building homes that have low maintenance needs. Commercial Director Matt Underwood commented: “We stand out by being different through our quality. This is demonstrated by the fact that we are only one of 15 housebuilders to be awarded the 5 Star quality rating in the annual Home Builders Federation customer satisfaction survey for the three consecutive years.
“We are always looking to explore alternative products and materials that enhance the quality and reduce the maintenance costs of our homes which is why the Modus PVC-U window system stood out to us as a great alternative to timber windows.”
Lioncourt contacted Eurocell which introduced it to the Modus range and to A&B Glass, the Tewkesbury-based fabricator and installer. Together they approached the planning authorities with samples and with photographs of similar developments where timber windows had been fitted to meet planning requirements but had been replaced with inappropriate aluminium and PVC-U equivalents within months.
Matt Sollis of A&B Glass explained: “Planners don’t appreciate how far PVC-U products have come on in the last decade and what an improvement they are upon timber. And when the first-time householders see all the costs of stripping back and repainting timber windows they will consider replacing them.”
Coming with a 12-year guarantee, the Modus system is available in nine solid and woodgrain-effect colours, all of which are available with white internal finishes to create a light and airy living environment. A further range of more than 40 solid and woodgrain effect finishes is available, including colour both sides.
BBA certified to function satisfactorily for more than 35 years, the Modus range has a U-value of 1.2 W/m² using 4/20/4 mm sealed double-glazed units. This effective thermal performance is due to the 75mm six-chamber profile system used in the Modus that enables the range to achieve a U-value as low as 0.7 by installing triple-glazed units. This led to Modus becoming one of the very first systems to achieve the BRFC Window Energy Rating (WER) of A++.
