Roshven http://www.roshvenhouse.com/index.html is an amazing mansion on the West Coast of Scotland within a few metres of the water and facing straight into the North Atlantic storms. The highest wind speed ever measured on the UK mainland was recorded just a couple of miles away.

The mansion dates mostly from the 1850s with the centre being considerably older. Every item used, including the stone used for its construction and the soil for the garden, was originally brought in by sea. It stands in a secluded bay with a sweep of sandy beach and a small island offshore, looking out over one of the great romantic views of the west, a pattern of islands including Eigg, Muck & Rhum.

The mansion was used as a training base by Special Forces during the Second World War, after which it remained empty (apart from a couple of rooms in one wing) until the current owner purchased it, determined to restore it as a superb holiday home.

Christopher Harris (Fire-Bird) was commissioned to design and supply replacement windows for the building, in the knowledge that they would have to stand up to an incredible level of assault from the North Atlantic.

For the sash windows in the main house, the weatherproofing was increased considerably and voids included in the design to reduce the air pressure reaching the inner seals. This careful design retains the traditional style of the windows and has proven to be 100% weather tight.

The original dormer windows in the attic bedrooms had troughs embedded in the windowsills to catch the copious quantities of water and sea spray driven through them during the frequent storms. That is not what 21^st Century holidaymakers would find acceptable.

By the clever design of lay-on casement windows with carefully positioned brush seals, pressure reduction voids, drainage holes and inner seals, the windows look traditional but can withstand anything the weather can throw at them. Indeed, shortly after the Mansion was finished, there was a terrible storm, which stripped slates from the roof and did lots of damage in the grounds, but not a drop of water found its way into the house through the windows.