Chris Wood of Lomax + Wood tells ADF how Lomax + Wood helped transform a Camden landmark in to a luxury London hotel
Lomax + Wood were selected, from the UK’s finest timber window specialists, to design and produce a range of premium quality oak windows and doors for the Standard Group’s first UK hotel. The building, a local landmark was previously the Camden Town Annexe with a brutalist seventies style, now reimagined as the “new cultural crossroads of London”.
The made-to-order European oak windows and doors were used on the ground floor and eighth floor, while the more utilitarian windows were used elsewhere. Oak was chosen to add a level of warmth and luxury to what had previously been nicknamed by the local residents as “the egg box”.
An important part of the specification process was to ensure sustainable timber was used in this element of the building. Lomax + Wood are committed to sourcing from sustainable sources, to this end they have worked hard to achieve FSC® Chain of Custody which is deemed by many to be an environmental gold standard. This work was undertaken in partnership with BM TRADA who are also deemed to be a mark of quality in the woodworking industry. The FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®), believes in ‘Forests For All Forever’® – a mantra that not only covers the timber itself but those people who live and work in the world’s forests, alongside the preservation of the flora and fauna. This overall belief in areas outside of just the timber itself makes FSC® Chain of Custody unique among timber schemes.
The objective of the project was to transform the building, maximising its full potential and giving it the ability to fulfil the newly designated purpose of a luxury London hotel in an extremely competitive market. To this end the challenging brief included large curved on plan windows, sash windows, bi-folding doors and heavy-duty entrance doors. The bell boy entrance door was a particularly unusual detail for Lomax + Wood, with a bespoke aluminium cover with circular cut outs, manufactured to cover the timber door behind.
Working closely with the contractor and architect during various design meetings both on and off-site, Lomax + Wood were able to meet strict design elements within the build to ensure the overall look carefully matched what was imagined initially while maintaining a high-performance product throughout.
Some of these design elements included provision for pivot floor springs to kitchen area doors, heavy duty concealed doors closers to main restaurant areas and automated entry to the bellboy entrance.
In addition, Lomax + Wood were also tasked with achieving a high technical glazing performance. This included both acoustic and solar factors.
The biggest challenge was incorporating all of the above within multiple product types, to different areas, while maintaining strict sight lines throughout the full perimeter of the building. Each unit had to seamlessly link together with external and internal linings along with a ‘hanging basket’ rail detail at mid height to match the appearance at first design stage.
The overall requirement was for a ‘handmade look’, with internal and external linings added to the ground floor windows and a dummy peg detail on the corners. All the ironmongery was bespoke, with some handles for the ground floor reception and bar areas by Forms & Surfaces, sourced from the US. Door cylinders were also bespoke, as an additional length was required to accommodate the unusual frame thickness.
Overall the project was challenging but Lomax + Wood specialise in producing high performance, made-to-order timber windows and doors to meet our clients’ specification and aesthetic requirements. In this case, detailed CAD drawings were produced with supporting samples to ensure the architect’s and client’s vision were realised.
In addition to timber windows and doors, Lomax + Wood also provide aluminium composite products which are on display alongside our traditional range at our head offices in Essex.
Chris Wood is managing director of Lomax + Wood