The word on the street…

Our house – in the middle of our street.

That’s what Suggs was singing about – conjuring up nostalgic visions of days gone by in a ‘typical’ British street.

And it wasn’t madness.

There is something to be said for the comfy wholesome ideal of a home with a proper community where everyone feels loved.

That was the aim for Jo and Steven when they decided to build their own home on the old RAF site at Bicester – setting for Channel 4’s Grand Designs ‘The Street’ programme.

Quality Street

It’s great little project with the old site seeing people self-building new homes exactly to their specifications – each property individual and different from the neighbours.

So not a typical British street then.

And when they encountered less than typical British weather (gorgeous sunshine, lovely warm temperatures – that sort of thing) problems that may have been over-looked in the design process came to the surface.

Glass.

Quite a lot of it –  and big picture windows – to maximise the lovely views over the surrounding (typically British) countryside.

It’s a great material for building and really helps to provide bags of natural daylight, giving the place a bright and airy atmosphere…

…Except when the sun really gets going – beating down incessantly and making the house unbearably hot and uncomfortable.

And there was the glare too. Strong sunlight, which had previously been a boon, was now becoming a complete pain – streaming in making life more difficult with any screen, TV or monitor becoming useless.

Oh – and the threat of ‘fading’ of course.

Beautiful wooden floors, expensive fabrics and soft furnishings – all lay open to the ravages of UV rays – potentially damaging all that designer décor.

Right up our street

No worries! Durable to the rescue.

We installed 3M’s Prestige 40 high tech window film. 

Very subtle.

And stylish.

Whilst almost invisible.

Streets ahead

Prestige is a High-spec, High-tech, High-end window film from 3M. It’s a marvel of technological devlopment and scientific application.

How does an Amazonian butterfly help protect our homes and furnishings from the damaging effects of the sun?

Let us elucidate you still further…

The problems in so many homes with large windowed areas like conservatories, bay windows and atriums have been how to prevent sun damage to fabrics, furnishings and floors without obscuring the view with tinted or mirrored windows or heavy and sometimes unsightly drapes or blinds.

In trying to solve such problems here in Britain you could be forgiven for not instantly seeking inspiration from flying insects in the South American rainforests. But Entomology (The scientific study of insects) has managed to provide the inspiration to revolutionise the existing technology to solve these problems in a classic case of technology imitating nature.

The beautifully elegant Amazonian Morpho butterfly appears to have brilliantly bright blue wings, but in fact has no colour in its wings. The amazing iridescent hue is created by multi-layered membranes of a specific thickness which ingeniously reflect the sun’s blue wavelengths. This simple, but clever principle became the inspiration behind the development of 3M Prestige protective window film.

The new nano-technology behind 3M Prestige makes the film optically clear thus it manages to protect your home interior without obscuring the clarity of your window. Other protective window films have had to rely on technology using metallic elements to provide protection which creates a tinted or mirrored effect on your window. Protective window films using metallic elements not only create high levels of unwanted reflection but also have a tendency to corrode in a coastal or humid environment.

Applied externally and virtually invisible, 3M Prestige protective window film prevents up to 99.9% of the sun’s harmful UV rays penetrating your windows and causing damage to fabrics, furnishings and flooring alike. This is of course extremely useful for listed buildings and landmark sites, which wish to solve these problems but at the same time wish to keep their exteriors and interiors looking traditional and unmolested.

3M Prestige protective window film also has the great advantage that it allows your room to stay bright and naturally lit by only filtering out the sun’s harmful rays. Vision in and out of your window remains unimpaired while natural light levels inside your room also remain unimpaired thus relieving you of the cost implications of artificial lighting.

For large windowed areas there is also a tendency to suffer from extreme temperature changes during winter and summer. Solutions to this problem have usually had a financial impact either in heating or cooling costs as well as compromising window clarity.

Dry your eyes mate

So – there you have it – window film saves the day – again.

Simple – economical – and beautifully effective.

Streetwise

Durable have been in the window film game for over 50 years.

We are the oldest window film company in Europe.

There is not much we don’t know about dealing with problems with glass.

Why not call us today – like jo and Steven did – and see how we can help.

We are an authority on glass issues, trusted by the likes of the MoD, English Heritage, National Trust and more.

Durable

Good with glass.

0118 989 5201 | mail@durable.co.uk