Modern Windows and Doors

Minimalism and Functionalism

The true masters of minimalism are arguably the Scandinavian countries: perhaps a cliche, but take a look at vintage Scandinavian furniture and try to guess the age. You could be out by several decades thanks to a simple, yet very clever, no-fuss design language that they have been employing since the early 20th century.

It’s no different for windows. A busy, complicated design can either appear traditional or become quickly out-dated.

Consistency Across Windows

These are the important factors when designing a modern window that aims for both minimalism and functionalism. It is incredibly important to not take away so much that the product becomes frustrating to live with, but there are plenty of extras that can be avoided without negatively impacting the usability.

We strongly recommend that a home has a consistent appearance regardless of if you desire a modern or traditional look. For windows, try to keep to the smallest number of factories or at least the same country of manufacture. A lot of countries have an obvious style of window: for example, windows made in Germany tend to be tilt-turns with larger 115mm+ frame widths, and windows made in Denmark are normally flush casement with frame widths hovering around 90mm.

Combine this with an aim to line-through either glass widths or heights (normally having similar widths is very achievable), and you’ll find it’s incredibly difficult for any window to look out-of-place.

Complicated modern design

Simplified modern design

Trickle Vent Hoods

You’ll start spotting these everywhere once you’re aware of them… One of the benefits of choosing a flush-casement system is that these external hoods can normally be completely hidden – this really helps with an overall clean design of a home.

See more in our Minimalist Cotswold Cottage Renovation gallery.

Do I Need “Fanlights”

The Danish are very confused by these, and a final order from us rarely includes them. It initially took us a very long time to explain what our UK customers wanted to our Danish estimators and, even after showing them their own windows fully finished and installed, the Danish verdict was “nice, but strange”. There’s a traditional Danish window layout called “Dannebrog” – this is a similar idea, but implemented very differently…

Fanlights

Dannebrog

Essentially, fanlights are an old UK plastic phenomenon that never truly went away. Yes, they provide a small amount of ventilation without needing to open a whole window. And, if you’ve always opened your windows in this way, it can be initially strange to not have them. Arguably, the main reason why Danish homes (and now a lot of UK homes) feel they aren’t needed is because a larger side-hinged window can actually be locked in a ventilation position. And it’s quite easy for the same window to hold itself in an open position if you need more airflow. For this relatively small compromise, we believe the cost andaesthetic improvement is very much worth seriously considering as it simplifies the overall look which is often favoured when designing modern windows.

Mechanical locking catch for the vent position, the forward catch allows the window to be locked slightly open and the rear catch locks it fully closed.

Window open and locked into the ventilation position

Timber Profiling

A lot of timber windows have an option where the interior frames can be given a classical moulding around the edges. As shown in the pictures below, a square timber profiling is often used on more modern windows due to its minimalistic appearance. More intricate designs are used for traditional English houses.

Hinges

There tends to be a lot of choice around visible hinges: a “normal” Danish style would be galvanised steel, but this is something we’re really not used to seeing in the UK, so they can look strange on some builds.

The stainless steel or darker grey equivalents can look much better. And a matching powder-coated hinge can be barely noticeable against the frames.

For a completely flush and minimal solution, guided hinges are completely invisible. They can present some practical issues though, as fire egress is often compromised due to the window sliding slightly into the clear space as it opens – best to ask if you’re unsure based on your window sizes.

Similarly, inward-opening tilt-turn hinges are normally completely hidden. Although, tilt-turn frames are often wider than an equivalent outward-opening casement…which brings us onto frame thickness…

See more in our Hampshire Major Home Renovation with Danish Windows gallery.

See more in our Sleek, Modern and Uniformly-Designed Leicestershire New Build gallery.

Performance vs Slim Frames

This is not true for every product but, in general: the thinner the frame width and depth, the less well-insulating the window will be. Or, more accurately: the thinner the frame, the more difficult it is to make the product well-insulating.

The extreme examples are comparing a German tilt-turn product with a UK-made heritage aluminium option. A triple glazed heritage aluminium frame will just about be able to achieve an overall Uw value of 1.4W/m²k when paired with high performance triple glazing.

And the much thicker German composite solution can easily achieve a Uw of 1.2W/m²k with a very normal argon-filled double glazed unit (and can reach 0.78W/m²k with triple glazing).

Obviously, the material plays an important role here too, but it still does make sense to compare them, as you’ll find that almost all thinner frames are aluminium and thicker frames are primarily timber.

For most people and most projects, there lies a convenient middle-ground where frame thickness and insulation feel “just right”. For us, this position is held by our Danish ranges – they quickly became the most popular choice when we first introduced them to the UK.

Vrogum Classic, STM Sapino and Tinium , and Unik Funkis are all worth an explore. All have a frame thickness of around 90mm for an opener, and all can achieve Uw values below 1.0W/m²k.