Indoor / Outdoor Living: Bi-fold Doors

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Alfresco living is much in demand for entertaining. The trend towards building homes with an abundance of natural light and a seamless connection between interior and exterior spaces is growing. Open up your house with either sliding doors, French doors or bi-fold doors. What are the advantages of each and which one should you chose? Let’s look at bi-fold doors Imagine an opening of up to 10 meters wide or up to 2.8 meters high, removing the barrier between indoors and outdoors to create one large entertainment area where friends can mingle with a glass of wine and nibbles, have

Keep flies outside

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

In joking, the Australian salute or greeting is a wave of a hand in front of ones face. Why? Flies of course! They serve an important role in our eco system but are annoying and we generally don’t want them in the house. As Paarhammer windows open to the inside, we often get asked “what about a flyscreen?” The answer is easy - the flyscreen is fitted to the outside of the window or door. Depending on the product range, Paarhammer removable flyscreens are either made with a timber frame in the same colour as the outside of the window

Uncover the Secrets of lift-slide Sliding Doors

Monday, August 08, 2016

For making an architectural statement, or for opening the home to entertaining areas, nothing beats the versatility and style of Paarhammer Lift-Slide Sliding Doors. In addition to a double layer of seals, they feature retractable carriages as part of the German hardware, which allow the door to be sealed airtight to increase energy efficiency and stops drafts. This function also allows the door to be stopped in any open position. Lift-slide sliding doors have a number of carriages recessed into the bottom of the sliding door panel as part of the technologically advanced hardware. These carriages lift up the door

Window News at Fensterbau Expo in Germany

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

With around 1300 exhibitors in 17 interconnecting halls, the Fensterbau and Holz-Handwerk in Nuernberg, Germany, is certainly the most important window fair in Europe, if not the world. 110,000 visitors ensured the exhibitors were kept busy. Some larger exhibitor stands were double story with a full restaurant to woe their customers, while even at smaller stands beer and pretzels were popular. If our I-phone is to be believed we walked more than 16km within the expo on the first full day. All to see the ever more intriguing window hardware on display, invisible hinging mechanisms and step-less thresholds with integrated

Alfresco Areas Access: Bi-fold Doors

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Access to the BBQ area, trampoline or vegie patch - what better way than to have bi-fold doors that fold away to reveal a wide opening leading into the great outdoors. Perfect for entertaining, when groups of people are migrating between the rooms of your home and the alfresco area. And perfect when the doors are open on quieter days, the breeze can enter along with the gentle outside noises, and the backyard feels like an extension of the home. As every home is unique, there are many different configurations available to choose from. Keep in mind that our bi-fold

10-Star Challenge

Friday, August 22, 2014

New houses in Australia have to meet 6 stars to comply with the Building Code. This requirement is quite easily reached. A movement for higher star ratings – and with it more energy efficient and comfortable buildings – is being undertaken by a number of architects and designers. The front runner is the BDAV (Building Designers Association of Victoria) which runs a 10-Star Challenge, giving Victoria’s building design fraternity the opportunity to design 10-Star energy efficient homes and be recognized for their design abilities and expertise in sustainable design responses. Already in its fourth year, the challenge is for conceptual

Fensterbau Frontale 2014

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Paarhammer has visited the bi-annual expo in Nuremberg again this year, taking several key staff. As a market leader in innovation and energy efficiency, Paarhammer is always striving to be at the forefront of the window industry. Fensterbau is a great place to keep up-to-date. Trends for the future and new hardware solutions can be seen at the world’s leading trade fair for windows, doors, facades and shading. The wish for more sustainability and comfort continues to drive innovation in the construction sector. It shows how aesthetics and design trends can be reconciled with energy-efficient building. Another focus of the

Award for ECO-Facade

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Featured at Designbuild 2014, the Eco Façade by Paarhammer wins the Selector Best New Product Award 2014, sponsored by Selector and Architectural Product News, and Designbuild. The award encourages innovation, development and improvement of products for use in architectural projects, and the product must have been released to the Australian market during the 12 months prior to Designbuild 2014. The judges for 2014 include Clare Cousins, founding director of Clare Cousins Architects; Jeremy McLeod, founding director of Breathe Architecture; and Nick Deans, project professional at Woods Bagot. The energy efficient and sustainable glass façade, with a low U-value from 0.8,

First Impression: Entrance Doors

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Your entrance door is like your business card: when visitors come to your home the entrance door will give a first impression. In today’s market there are many designs available from modern to traditional, from blending in to making a statement. The design should suit the house so that ‘curb appeal’ works as a whole and makes your home inviting. But your entrance door should not only look good but work well. After choosing the right design, sealing and security are the main issues for front doors. Seals equal no drafts Sealing well could mean that your door is double

Back to Timber

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

For numerous reasons wood is making a come-back as building material of choice. Led by the famous award winning ‘Forte’ – the tallest apartment building made of cross laminated timber in the Southern Hemisphere, more and more architects are using timber in a major way. Michael Green and his firm in Canada developed North Americas tallest timber building with a height of 27.5metre, the new home of the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. In Australia, Peter Maddison, award winning architect and presenter of Grand Design Australia, says in a commercial by ‘Wood Naturally Better’ that “wood stores carbon and carbon