Steel Window Design showroom
Combining a working factory, office and showroom, Steel Window Design’s new Preston headquarters by Büro Architects turns making into the main event.
For over a decade, Steel Window Design has been crafting steel windows and doors, championing local materials and manufacturing. “The goal was to build a space that people did want to comfortably work in and enjoy working in,” says James Pridgeon, director of Steel Window Design. “We wanted a singular space where clients could come in and see everything in situ: pivot doors, sliding doors, hinge doors, windows.”
Pridgeon describes the business as “an end-to-end” operation “from design to manufacturing to installation” and the new space encompasses every aspect of this. Working with Mitchell Eaton of Büro Architects, the team made the production floor the hero. “We knew that it was really important to centre the manufacturing process in the concept for the design,” Eaton says. The response is a floating linear volume elevated above the factory floor that houses the showroom and offices, allowing visitors to “look down into the fabrication space”.
For Pridgeon, this transparency builds trust. “It’s a really nice thing to be able to stand in our showroom and see trucks coming in and out, steel being unloaded,” he says. “You can see the windows and doors being pre-fit with the correct hardware.” This showcases the company’s message that everything is made locally, by hand and with care.
One of Eaton’s main challenges was to create spaces that showcased Steel Window Design’s large range of products. To do so, he crafted different environments to reflect how the products would look in both residential and commercial settings. This included a courtyard made of Krause bricks that is connected to the outdoors by a bank of automated windows. The more internal showroom and office spaces lean into domesticity, with warmer, softer materials such as sheer blinds, rich marble and limewash paint.
Sustainability was also a key driver of the project. “When we designed the space, we wanted to ensure we had solar panels,” Pridgeon says. “Another thing is recyclability. Our product is something that can last a very long time, and it has already had a life cycle before it’s been made into a steel window or door. We want to offer our clients a choice for something that’s sustainably made, responsibly made and locally sourced.”
While from the outside the brick warehouse reads as a completely industrial space, once you enter, this perspective immediately shifts. “Once you walk through those entrance doors, you’re in this really beautiful, well-thought out, curated space,” he says. “I think that creates this wow factor… and we love that.”
Ultimately, for Pridgeon, this new headquarters is an incredible step forward for their growing business. “Having it all come together is just the beginning for what we want to do next.”
