Over 200 Optima windows and doors from Profile 22 were installed in an £11 million community hub in Leeds city centre.

Westerton Walk in Leeds city centre is an extra care housing development comprising 63 one-and two-bedroom flats with care services, shared lounges, and dining facilities. It has been built on a vacant Leeds City Council-owned site and has created a dynamic community hub.

The project required 205 casement windows, residential doors, emergency doors, sliding doors, and curtain walling. The system specified was Optima from Profile 22, the UK’s leading commercial window and door system.

The contract to fabricate and install the windows and doors was awarded to Profile 22 Approved Contractor Kingfisher Windows, a leading manufacturer and supplier of windows, doors, and conservatories for commercial and new build projects.

Optima from Profile 22 is an award-winning fully integrated 70mm window and door system available in sculptured and chamfered variations. The system comes with the widest range of ancillaries in the industry and a choice of colour options to support all property types. In this project, Anthracite Grey was used on external faces to provide an attractive appearance. Internally, a white finish was used to complement internal decoration.

The system offers market-leading structural strength and security. When correctly specified, Optima casement windows are PAS24:2016 approved as standard. Secured by Design requirements can also be met where required. Such assurances were important for this project because deterring crime was a fundamental consideration.

Also important was thermal efficiency and Optima meets all requirements for thermal efficiency as standard. Thanks to intelligent design as well as double and triple glazing options, thermal efficiency can be enhanced to meet a project’s specified standards, up to and including 0.8 W/m2K or A++.

As an experienced contractor, Kingfisher Windows is used to working with new build developers on projects involving tight timescales on busy construction sites. The fabrication and installation process ran smoothly, despite the additional challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Jonny Reynolds of Kingfisher Windows commented: “We worked closely with all stakeholders and took extra precautions to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved.”

Now complete, Westerton Walk will help to meet Leeds City Council’s ambition to provide up to 1,000 new extra care housing units by 2028.

Jonny Reynolds said: “This was a great scheme to work on and the coloured frames we used have helped to create an attractive, distinctive development that is providing much-needed facilities and helping to regenerate Leeds city centre.”