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The firm, now based in Witham, Essex, has been manufacturing steel-framed windows since the 1880s. The frames Crittall developed could be mass produced, then simply cut and welded to fit an array of standard window sizes, external.
The style was popular in both commercial and residential buildings during the 1920s and 1930s but also after World War Two, says Adams. “Perfect for a post-war economy that was mass building without much money and with a shortage of materials,” he explains.
Factories and warehouses often benefitted from metal-framed windows – lightweight but strong steel meant the frames could be extra thin, allowing more room for glass, which let natural light flood through. Workers appreciated this – but so did the wealthy, who wanted light, airy homes.
A large, art deco country house built by Walter Crittall in the 1930s was listed for sale, external last year at £1.65m.
On the Crittall factory floor today, there is a machine that dates to the 1920s. It is still used occasionally for gently bending steel frame sections into curved pieces, says managing director Russell Ager: “It’s an incredible piece of kit.”
But the company has moved on in many other ways, he stresses, and nearby machines in the building are now state-of-the-art. “We’ve done so much work to improve the thermal performance of the products,” adds Mr Ager.
Today you can get double and even triple-glazed Crittall windows. And crucially, the steel frames are now made with a thermal break, a glass fibre section of insulation within the frame that prevents heat escaping through its structure.
The lack of a thermal break is what made the older frames so prone to becoming cold when the weather outside was chilly. Cold glass and steel encourage moisture in the indoor air to condense.
The latest Crittall windows can achieve a U-value – a measure of their insulating performance – as low as 0.8, which is better than standard double-glazed windows.
They are heftier than the vintage versions but Crittall has retained the classic look of relatively skinny metal frames and rectangular or square panes of glass. TikTok and Instagram accounts focusing on home décor often feature windows such as this, though Crittall has many competitors now that make similar-looking products, admits Mr Ager.
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