Most of our heat reduction window film installations are mirrored. This is because as well as offering excellent heat reduction properties it also offers excellent privacy. But what if you want the heat reduction but still want clear views inside of the property? That is where sputtered window film comes in.
Our latest client was Sudeley Castle in WInchcombe, Gloucestershire who have a fantastic cafe on their grounds. It has many windows all the way around and gets very warm during the summer months. They wanted to reduce this heat without compromising the aesthetics of the building, so they opted for a neutral window film called sputtered window film.
The Pavilion Cafe.
The cafe (called The Pavilion) had a grand total of 43 windows of various sizes, the majority being full length windows measuring just over 2 meters high by just over 1 meter wide. This was a very large job that was completed by three of the team over a couple of days, working from late afternoon into the late evening.
The window film used on this job was called Sputtered Neutral 50 heat reduction window film and the job required over 75 square meters of window film in total. The number refers to the VLT transmission. The higher the number the lighter it is. There is (for example) a sputtered 20, but his will have a darker appearance.
We will show you a series of pictures from this job showing the team installing the film, what the film looks like when applied and an interesting comparison on how the film looks installed when compared to an untreated window. As said before this sputtered window film is ideal when a non-reflective finish is required. Almost 100% of our heat reduction film that we install is mirrored so it is very nice for us to be able to show you an alternative option of window film.
Getting started.
One of the team can be seen applying the sputtered film to one of the large windows. In total there were 29 windows of this size. Also take note of just how minimal the affect is on allowing natural light through. The window directly to the right of the fitter is untinted, all of the other windows visible have window film applied. Here are a couple more pictures of the team in action.
A handy tinted vs untinted comparison.
You may wonder how much light is compromised by using this sputtered window film, the answer is not very much at all. For an excellent example please see the image below. The pane on the left hand side has window film installed, the right hand pane is untinted. As you can see the difference is negligible. This was one of the main reasons that the cafe owners opted for this sputtered window film. The window film helps reduce the heat without compromising too much on natural light.
As said before most of the windows were full length at just over 2 meters tall but there were some smaller windows too, like these ones here. They had some pictured vinyl applied to around three-quarters of the windows. So we tinted the exposed areas of those windows.
The end of the first day.
With the properties of this building being almost entirely consisting of large windows and all four sides receiving direct sunlight at some stage of the year it is very important to ensure that every window is tinted. We worked late into the evening and had completed roughly 55% of the windows by the end of the first evening.
Day two.
We were back in mid-afternoon to complete the job. We are very flexible with our working hours too going above and beyond the traditional “9 to 5.”
The cafe wanted to operate throughout the day which was completely understandable, so we came in around 3pm when the cafe was winding down so that we wouldn’t be any inconvenience to the patrons.
We had completed most of the front of the cafe so we turned our attention to the rear of the cafe which backs out onto a lovely outdoor garden area..
Not surprisingly we could actually feel the interior of the cafe becoming tangibly cooler the more windows that we completed. We then moved back round to the front of the cafe to complete some of the smaller windows.
Now the job was really starting to come together nicely. We still had quite a few windows to do though mainly around by the main entrance to the cafe.
Here are a few pictures of the cafe now it has been completed. We really enjoyed this one. The cafe is wonderful, set inside the Sudeley Castle grounds, and this sputtered window film will really make a difference to the internal temperature of the cafe without ruining the overall aesthetics of the cafe. A perfect choice.
Can we help you?
If window film is something that you might be considering for your own business please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be delighted to help. With businesses we always prefer to do a site visit so that we can measure up the job correctly, and run you through your various options. As well as sputtered we also do mirrored, and also coloured too. There are many different colour options available for the perfect finish.