Clearview National April 2016 - Issue 173 | Page 66

FIT SHOW 2016

NEW ROOF LANTERN
IN POLE POSITION

When Made for Trade’s Managing Director, Bradley
Gaunt, saw a gap in the market for a new kind of lantern
roof that combines ease of installation with thermal
properties and aesthetics, he was given a helping hand by
his brother, Ashley, who works in motorsport car design.
»»The end result was the Korniche, which
will be unveiled by Made for Trade at the
FIT Show. Apart from the interface between
the eaves beam and the existing roof, there
is no need to use silicone sealant anywhere
on the Korniche, just one bead of sealant is
required between the underside of the eaves
beam and the existing structure. This allows
for quality, style and ease of fitting for the
installer.
After 14 months’ of hard graft,
manufacturing engineer Bradley is excited to
reveal the outcome of the work and expertise
applied by himself and by Ashley, who
works as a mechanical engineer at Danisi
Engineering in Turin, Italy.
Bradley said: “I think that the current
extension/conservatory market is changing.
We are already se eing a shift towards brick
built extensions with large glazed bi-folding
doors or patios, coupled with a slim-line
aluminium roof lantern overhead. After
looking round the market, there didn’t seem
to be anything that was both easy and quick
to install with great thermals and aesthetics.
“With this in mind we decided to set out
to develop and design an attractive, slimline, thermally efficient roof lantern that is
incredibly simple and quick to fit. A great
deal of time was spent on the design and I
believe we have now been able to tick every
box on our list.”

ONE TOOL INSTALLATION
Bradley added: “All roofs tend to be fiddly.
You have silicone and little bits of plastic that
you have to click on and the installer would
usually be into an hour and a half, two hours
to install, but this can be assembled in half
the time with a single hex key, supplied in
each roof kit, in a one tool installation.”
He believes the design has hit the mark
aesthetically too, by having all the fixings
hidden and a cleverly designed boss,
providing unbroken sight lines flowing down
from the ridge through the hips of the roof.
The aim is to transform rooms into bright
and airy spaces by offering a modern and
easy to maintain alternative to skylights. The
slim aluminium sight-lines help to create a
roof that allows maximum natural light to
flood in.

GAME CHANGING

SILICONE FREE CONSTRUCTION

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Everyone is talking about thermal
efficiency, and by designing the Korniche
from the ground up, Made for Trade has been
able to produce a fully thermally isolated roof
lantern. Sleekly designed injection moulded
seals as well as industry leading gaskets will
result in ‘fantastic thermal properties,’ so
much so, that Bradley believes the Korniche

is set to be the most thermally efficient roof
lantern currently on the market, and what he
describes as a real game-changer.
He added, “Other systems out there claim
to be thermally efficient but they rely on
silicone. Many of the roofs available also
bastardise bits from various systems and that
compromises the engineering.”
Made for Trade was in the process of
structural and thermal testing of the product
when we visited the business. In a demo,
Bradley showed how the whole roof snaps
together into a strong interlocking structure.
He explained, “The glazing retainer acts as
a glass lock ensuring maximum weathertightness, protection against buffeting and
excellent thermal properties. Factory fitted
cleats will provide additional structural
strength to the aluminium profile giving a
robust and reliable roof, all year round.
“It’s all locked in together and is a very
neat finish. It’s a simple and elegant product,
which is incredibly fitter friendly. The
installation guides are colour coded with the
ridge in the first pack, the hips in the second
and so on.”
The Korniche lantern roof will be
completely bespoke to each client’s needs