Bespoke glazed timber doors and screens from specialist manufacturer Longden have played a major role in the rejuvenation of a 120-year old Grade II Listed industrial building in London.

The Old Pump House is a fine and rare example of a hydraulic pump building in the East End which had been derelict for 40 years - until developed by City North Group with a £2.7 million restoration and transformation to modern office spaces. It is a massive scale brick building incorporating walls up to 1m thick, almost like a medieval castle. American oak fire-rated glazed doorsets and screens manufactured by Longden provide protection for both occupants (meeting the Building Regulations) and the Listed property.  Substantial timber sections and 58mm thick door leaves were used to suit the industrial heritage of the building, with curved door heads to fit the original brick ‘barrel’ arches.

This local landmark building has been sympathetically restored to maintain its special character and satisfy English Heritage and Conservation Officer demands. Project architect for City North Group, Andrew Yelland said: “We worked closely with Longden to achieve the particular aesthetic we were looking for while meeting performance requirements – notably 30-minutes fire resistance. The excellent quality and superb finish of the bespoke doorsets and screens reflects the high standards which we looked for throughout the building.”

The Longden range can achieve up to FD60 (60-minutes) fire rating, with smoke control where needed, fully certified and supported by the third party BWF-CERTIFIRE scheme. Production techniques unique to Longden enable traditionally crafted doors to achieve these fire ratings as well as other performance levels such as 36 RwdB sound reduction or ‘Secured by Design’ accreditation for security, where needed. Longden doors and doorsets are traditionally constructed with solid timber stiles, rails and panels. In addition to glazed doors and screens, the  Longden range offers both raised and fielded panel designs, which can be combined with moulded rails, stiles and muntins, applied mouldings and other traditional detailing. Other innovations include overhead door closers with the mechanism concealed within the head at the top of the door leaf, avoiding visually intrusive surface-mounted closers and invasive work to floors to inset floor-level closers – particularly important on historic ‘listed’ properties.