The faded "Arsenal red" paintwork is the clue that the dozens of window frames stacked up in the store room of Steel Window Service and Supplies' north London base come from the old Highbury stadium. In their current form, the rusted and peeling frames look a sorry state, but by the end of the year they will be better than new. After 93 years as a football stadium, Highbury is being developed by Arsenal FC into more than 700 high-specification apartments, some of which will incorporate the grade II-listed, art deco facade of the former east stand. It is SWS' job to bring the thirties windows, originally made by Crittall as part of its Universal range, up to scratch. So, how do you take a 75-year-old window and transform it into something in keeping with an apartment that could reasonably retail for ?00,000. At the moment SWS is in the middle of this painstaking process, which has involved redesigning the glazing and devising a way to control ventilation, in addition to removing and reinstalling all 163 windows. All being well the work will be completed in the autumn. The process began in January, when the first frames were carefully removed. Each window was dismantled and stamped with identification numbers. Back at SWS' premises, the ironmongery, including the original bronze pivot cups and spring catches, was taken off, bagged and sent for chemical stripping to remove any paint and polished to reveal the base material.
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