European Windows

A European window is defined less by where it is made than by how it opens, how it seals and how it is built into the wall. The five systems below cover almost everything a Toronto house needs, and choosing between them is mostly a question of how you want each room to work.

Tilt and turn is the European default and the one most people are here for. One handle, two functions, tilted at the top for secure ventilation or swung fully open inward for cleaning and escape. It seals on compression around the full perimeter, which is why it outperforms a sliding sash by a wide margin.

Casement swings outward on a hinge and suits elevations where an inward opening sash would collide with the room.

Lift and slide carries large glazed panels on a mechanism that lifts the sash clear of its seal before it moves, so it seals hard when closed and still slides with one hand.

Fixed removes the opening mechanism altogether for the narrowest possible sightline, and is usually combined with an opening unit elsewhere in the same elevation.

Folding stacks panels to one side to open a wall completely.

We build these on systems from Schüco, Reynaers, Cortizo, Aluprof and Rehau, and on our own Vindow Series. Where a project needs the slimmest possible frame, see our minimal systems, and where it is targeting certification, see Passive House.

Every unit is fabricated to the measured opening. Nothing is adjusted from a standard size.