Glazed screens and doors specified for refurbished Manchester hotel 

Cotswold Casements, a member of the Steel Window Association, has supplied and installed a range of glazed screens and doors for the phased refurbishment of a Manchester hotel.

The Palace Hotel has been renamed the Principal Manchester, following a multi-million pound refurbishment and redevelopment programme, which was led by Michaelis Boyd Associates.

Cotswold Casement was appointed specialist steel window package contractor for the project.

A range of large screens and double and single doors were installed inside the hotel’s restaurant and winter garden to divide the open space, which was once a trading hall for the Refuge Insurance Company. 

Glazed walls and partitions

In total, the food and beverage area spans 10,000 square feet. As the hotel owners did not want to compartmentalise the space with solid walls, steel framed screens were specified to create glazed walls which guests can see and walk through.

This has created several distinct spaces: the restaurant; a bar; the ‘den’, which can be rented for private functions; and a narrow ‘street’, which offers space for people to sit and relax or work. Finally, there is the winter garden, a key entertainment space which is housed inside a glass atrium and full of trees.

Cotswold Casements produced 57 fixed screens, in addition to three pairs of double doors and two single doors. All products were created using W20 steel sections and finished in RAL 9004 Matt, before being glazed with 4mm clear toughened safety glass. 

With slim sight-lines, the transparent partitions maximise daylight transmission and create a feeling of openness, which complements the building’s aesthetic in respect of its history.

Glazed steel framed doors

In the hotel’s bedrooms, the Cotswold Casement team fitted single doors to link the them with en-suite bathrooms. The glazed steel framed doors were chosen to encourage a play of light between the two spaces. However, ‘satin nova’ obscure glazing still offers privacy.

The doors were produced using W20 steel sections in RAL 9004 Matt and glazed with 4mm thick Reeded toughened glass.