Paarhammer Windows & Doors

Project - Blairgowrie Dune House - Award winning

Blairgowrie Dune House has been awarded the Australian Windows Association (AWA) Award for ‘Best Use of Windows and Doors – Residential over $500,000 - 2014′

The home sits on sand dunes in the middle of tea trees on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. It therefore had to be a very environmentally sensitive construction, following the contours of the land.

The clients wanted environmentally responsible timber windows and doors – a renewable resource – to fit with the natural surroundings. Manilkara Bidentata (or Pacific Jarrah), a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified timber, was the answer, and also complied with the bushfire ratings of BAL-40 and BAL-29 respectively. The windows and doors comply with the new Australian Standard 3959-2009 for building in bushfire prone areas.

For this project we manufactured and installed windows, lift-slide doors, stacker sliders and corner stacker sliders as well as motorised clerestory windows, fixed glass units and doors. All are double glazed, Low-E and Pyro40 (which includes Low-E as part of bushfire glass) with U-values of 1.7 and 1.8. High performance glazing achieves WERS ratings from 4.5 cooling stars to 7 heating stars with energy savings from 61% to 75%. They reduce heat loss and improve thermal comfort while maximising daylight transmission.

The windows and doors are oiled to show the reddish colour but if the owners decide to let them age to a natural silver grey these products are totally maintenance free.

This building is sensitive to its surroundings and allows for indoor-outdoor living with large sliding doors and stacker sliders including corner stackers. Some of the sliding stacker doors open the indoor spaces to the outside entertainment areas as far as 4m in each direction from the corner without any corner posts.

The tile floor in the north facing living areas is perfect for storing the heat of the sun in winter and there is excellent heat retention through solar efficient glazing and extremely low air infiltration.

Ease of operation and excellent sealing make this ‘a dream come true’ (clients own words) but the biggest success is the use of very large glazed areas and sliding doors while the building is situated in the second highest bushfire prone area.

Lots of complexities in this project had the owners search for a window company which suited them and their project best. Paarhammer ticked all their boxes from energy efficiency to bushfire safety, and ease of use, in addition to being ‘good looking’ to go with their beautiful house design.

For all your window and door enquiries, please contact Paarhammer on 03 5368 1999 or visit www.paarhammer.com.au.
Project Year: 2014
Country: Australia