A Window Into SWA Commercial Project Winner 2025, West Leigh

At the 2025 Steel Window Association awards, the Commercial Project winner was West Leigh’s Len House project. Andy Bawn, MD of West Leigh, tells us all about the company today.

Len House, Maidstone – West Leigh’s meticulous restoration of this Grade II listed Art Deco landmark, featuring like-for-like W20 steel windows and doors, curved frames, and bespoke detailing to preserve its historic character

What is your core business?

Andy Bawn, Managing Director for West Leigh

West Leigh has been a steel window and door manufacturer for over 75 years and, today, the team provides highly specialist bespoke steel window services; from curtain walling to heritage and refurbishment projects. The advanced approach and specialism in the thermally broken product range makes West Leigh the perfect partner for architects and contractors across the UK.

What are the target markets for West Leigh?

Architects, main contractors and property owners.

Why is West Leigh a member of the Steel Window Association?

The benefits of being a member of the Steel Window Association is the sharing of pooled resources, while the years of experience and expertise throughout the association allows the development of new products for the ever-evolving requirements of the building regulations. The marketing reach of the association is a great benefit to all.

What sets West Leigh apart? What do you see as a competitive advantage you offer that other companies do not, for London-based projects?

As the company is based in London, we are able to offer a totally local service encompassing the design, manufacture, and project management our clients need. At West Leigh, everything is bespoke and handmade to the clientele’s specifications. We, therefore, pride ourselves on quality which led us to be certified with ISO 9001.

Are there any key projects you would like to mention?

We recently completed the installation of 464 new windows and doors at the New Chancery Rosewood Hotel in Mayfair. The building was the old American Embassy, so we had to take a careful approach for the replacement windows to align with the requirements of Listed Building status as well as providing enhanced thermal and acoustic performances. Similarly, West Leigh is currently engaged with Sir Robert McAlpine on the site of the old Smithfield’s meat market; another listed building to be suitably refurbished for new occupants, The Museum of London.

Both projects incorporated Ottostumm’s W50TB thermally broken steel window system. Designed to match the sightline profiles of the old W20 and Universal sections, W50TB is a great system for both heritage and new build projects alike. The Chancery Rosewood also had Shueco’s thermally broken Janisol HI steel doors to all the balconies.

Pictured above is Voysey House, Chiswick, West Leigh’s award-winning restoration of a former Victorian wallpaper factory, featuring bespoke steel windows and doors using rare Series 200 profiles and Fineo vacuum glazing for exceptional thermal performance and heritage detailing.

What do you see as the biggest challenges to the steel window industry in the UK today?

The biggest challenge to the steel window industry is the lowering of u-values and the far higher performances required. Fortunately, we have the benefit of system specific applied glazing bars replicating the welded glazing bars of the old steel window profiles. That, along with the vastly improved glazing options available to us, allows for the steel window industry to keep moving with the times, whilst still offering the traditional slimline and robust aesthetic steel windows are renowned for.

What are the company's top priorities over the next few years?

Over the next few years, the company's top priorities are centred around strategic product innovation and portfolio expansion. A major focus will be the development of our thermally broken windows. These are designed to significantly improve energy efficiency and thermal performance, aligning with growing demand for sustainable building solutions. We're investing in advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to ensure these windows meet the highest standards of quality and performance.

In parallel, we're committed to broadening our product offering. This means identifying complementary products that enhance our existing lineup and meet evolving customer needs. Whether it's through in-house development or strategic partnerships, adding new products will allow us to serve a wider market and strengthen our position as a comprehensive solutions provider in the fenestration industry.

Together, these initiatives reflect our long-term vision: to lead with innovation, respond to market trends, and deliver exceptional value to our customers.

How long has your oldest member of staff been working at West Leigh? What makes an employee want to stay with the company? Any other key members?

We have a great history of long-serving staff in both the factory and office, so we are obviously doing the right thing by our employees. Our longest serving members have been at the company for 49 and 51 years. For the last few years, we have had yearly get-togethers with the current workforce and those now retired (many of those retired were with the company for over 40 years). We all have a good work ethic, and we know how to work together and build trusting, long term relationships.

For further information on the Steel Window Association or if you’re interested in becoming a member, please visit www.steel-window-association.co.uk

SWA Member Shines In Heritage Refurbishment Project At Woolwich Arsenal

Steel Window Association member, Associated Steel Window Services, is a long-established member of the Steel Window Association and expert in the repair of metal windows, from the earliest wrought iron examples through to contemporary curtain walling. ASWS also undertakes full restoration works to timber windows and doors, architectural metalwork, specialist glazing, bronze windows and shopfronts.

Members of the Steel Window Association together offer a UK wide service for the repair and replacement of various types of old metal windows, doors and screens, as well as being able to manufacture new fenestration which fully meets the requirements of building regulations.

A recent project at The Woolwich Arsenal is a prime example of the SWA’s skills in bringing historic buildings back to life. Aside from converted and new-build residential properties, the huge site has also seen numerous businesses and social enterprises established, including Woolwich Works, a creative quarter for the arts which includes spaces such as The Firework Factory, The Laboratory and The Cartridge Factory. 

While recent decades have seen the site transformed from a near derelict munitions factory to become one of south London’s most iconic redevelopments, restoration and repurposing work continue apace, with a completed contract involving steel window specialist, ASWS, highlighting both the challenges and the opportunities the complexity of the buildings can present.  

Within Buildings 19 and 41, ASWS was tasked with refurbishing over a dozen large steel windows, including 10 with semi-circular heads, and the removal of three others where the openings were to be blocked up or replaced by new doors.  While the company’s operatives are well experienced at demounting very old windows without damage, these posed a particular challenge in that the outer frames had been deeply recessed into the brickwork to help withstand a possible explosion, from inside or outside, with the history of the building and its location.

The 12 windows measuring 2,400mm high by 1,500mm were removed to the London premises of ASWS for careful grit-blasting and the replacement of many heavily corroded sections.    This reuse rather than the building industry’s default of recycling old metal offered the client significant cost savings and helped maintain the integrity of a truly historic complex which dates back to the end of the 17th century. For further information on the Steel Window Association, please visit www.steel-window-association.co.uk or call 020 3475 8049.

A Window Onto SWA Refurbishment Project Winner 2025, Associated Steel Window Services

At the 2025 Steel Window Association awards, the Refurbishment Project winner was named as Associated Steel Window Services (ASWS) for the work on the Empress building at 35 Dover Street, Mayfair.

Kris Bennell, Operations Director of Associated Steel Window Services and President of the SWA, shares insights into the company.

Pictured are Laura Mercer, Managing Director, and Kris Bennell, Operations Director, of ASWS

How long has Associated Steel Window Services been in business? 

ASWS is a family-managed business now into its third generation and 58^th year as a specialist steel window refurbishment and replacement company. The company has evolved since 1960 and is now a leading company in the steel window, and wider fenestration refurbishment, industry.  

What is your core business?

ASWS is a heritage window and door refurbishment contractor, specialising in works on large scale construction projects throughout the UK. In recent times, we have worked on prestigious projects including the Ikea Development at 214 Oxford Street, Battersea Power Station, County Hall, The Whiteley, BBC Bush House and Hackney Town Hall – among others. As a company, we can help with any requirements you have involving windows; examples are condition surveys, enabling, refurbishment, replacement, servicing, maintenance or reglazing.

What are the target markets for Associated Steel Window Services - architect, designer, property owner, managing agent and others?

We are predominantly a commercial business focusing on the large to mid-scale construction sites across London and the South. We undertake most of our work directly for architects, clients and Tier 1, 2 and 3 main contractors. We specialise in refurbishment and heritage projects, and have taken on some of the largest and most demanding projects in the UK, in the last decade.

How long has the company been a member of the Steel Window Association? And why?

We joined the SWA in the late 1980’s as it was such a widely regarded association of experts by architects, main contractors and the specifiers. We wanted to be recognised as the best of the best and, to be a member of the SWA, meant just that. In that sense, not much has changed for the association but that’s a good thing, I think. We are still a collective of experts in our fields, whether that be the manufacture, refurbishment or surveying of fenestration.

What sets Associated Steel Window Services apart? What do you see as a competitive advantage you offer that other companies do not?

I think it’s our passion for the work, our drive to succeed and our wealth of family knowledge. Being a third-generation business, this isn’t just what we do Monday to Friday; it’s our life. It may sound odd, but I grew up hearing about windows, hearing about the current projects. It was something I saw my parents love and something I couldn’t wait to get involved in.

Key projects you would like to mention?

I think we have been very lucky to not only work on some of the most significant historical buildings in London over the years, such as BBC Bush House (the former headquarters of BBC World Service), 214 Oxford Street, Hackney Town Hall, County Hall, the Royal Academy of Arts, but we have also worked on some of the biggest projects in the UK and even Europe in the last five years. These projects include Battersea Power Station refurbishment, Olympia, London and The Whiteley. Such projects have greatly increased our skill and ability to work with the biggest and the best main contractors.

What do you see as the biggest challenges to the steel window industry in the UK today?

I think it’s no secret to anyone in construction that, traditionally, steel’s biggest weakness has been seen as thermal performance. Yet we have seen such great development, from within the industry and particularly the SWA, over the last decade to keep up with regulation changes that we are able to really challenge this traditional misconception. With WERS and DERS testing, real advancement in glazing technology and performance, and the ability to retrofit all of this to refurbished windows, is allowing us to very much keep in touch with the modernisation of fenestration across the UK.

Pictured is County Hall, London which was built in 1922 where ASWS has restored and refurbished the architectural steelwork for over 30 years.

What are the company's top priorities over the next few years?

Keeping steel at the forefront of historic buildings across the UK. It’s what we love, it’s what we know and it’s who we are. We, as a business, are developing to help building management companies, clients, architects and main contactors work, plan and execute heritage projects across the UK from inception to completion. We are able to offer services throughout, with condition surveys, tendering, all elements of steel (and timber) window refurbishment as well as the planning and heritage consultation we can advise on.

One of our most frequent compliments is the way we help to manage heritage, planning and site works. A Site Director recently said that “working on a listed building of this importance means you are not just confronted with all of the problems from the past, but also those lying in the present. With regards to the heritage aspects to the façade and the restoration of the different window types, it was the Crown Estates representative who attended site for regular monthly reviews.  He was definitely very happy with the way that the work was conducted and completed by ASWS.” 

How long has your oldest member of staff been working at Associated Steel Window Services? What makes an employee want to stay with the company?  Any other key members?

Last year, we took Rob Ackland and his family out to dinner in County Hall, to celebrate his 30^th anniversary with us! We chose County Hall because it was Rob’s first project with us in 1994 and he has been on every single contract there since; in 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2024. We are a family-run business, and the family extends to all our staff.

We regularly have days out, celebrations of end of projects and we are always willing to listen and learn about how we can make the working experience of our team better. My dad has always said that, in business, “you are only ever as good as your last job”, and the people doing those jobs are people like Rob and our team. Without them, we would not be the business we are and that’s at the core of our thinking and it will remain like that for what I hope will be many generations to come.  For further information on the Steel Window Association or if you’re interested in becoming a member, please visit www.steel-window-association.co.uk