When Ultraframe launched its new roof lantern UltraSky in 2015, they knew they were on to a winner, but the success of the new product has been incredible according to the market leading roof system manufacturer, success it attributes largely down to its ‘less bars’ system. With the options to choose aluminium or PVC, or any combination of the two, flexibility sits at the heart of this lantern system. But innovation is only king if it meets the needs of all corners of the roof market so we chatted to Andrew Thomson, design and development director at Ultraframe, David Thomas, managing director at Preston-based fabricator Specialised Ltd and Mark Simmonds who owns Diamond Windows based in Droitwich.
Andrew, lets start with your perspective, was UltraSky always destined to be successful: “the Ultraframe design and development team knew we’d designed a winning system, but we weren’t expecting the sheer scale of success we have experienced in the last 12 months. Sales have considerably surpassed our expectations with our fabricators and retail
ers enjoying great, continued success. And whilst, as always our marketing and technical support has underpinned the success with the industry leading standards customer have come to expect, UltraSky really does showcase how effective a lantern can be not only in terms of delivering an elegant feature, but also just how much our system floods a room with light. As with all of our roof innovations our develop
ment journey starts with the needs of the end consumer and in this instance we knew that we needed to develop a lantern with minimal bars, this is a key point missed by other systems – home owners want to see sky – not bars.” On that point Andrew, we’ve seen other lanterns in the market that claim to do everything the UltraSky can do, what’s your comment on that?: “undoubtedly there are other me-too products in the market, we’re used to that. As I said, for us a key design imperative was to ensure UltraSky captured the maximum volume of light whilst giving that feeling of light and space. This lead us down the path of selecting a 25° pitch for our lantern.
Lower pitches were trialled and discarded, while there is an advantage in saving materials, frankly they just didn’t deliver the same visual performance which delivers that feeling of space we know people want from a lantern. You’ve got to remember that lanterns are often used to really accentuate an internal space – whether that’s highlighting a beautiful kitchen or bringing a controlled amount of light into a living area, but they also need to look fantastic.
”David, lets chat to you. You’re in a unique position – interpreting innovation from Ultraframe and sending it down the line to your retail customers, has Ultraframe got it right with UltraSky? “Ultraframe has got it spot on with the dual-finish of both aluminium and PVC, we’re seeing a 50/50 split between the two, the ultimate USP is that a retailer has choice and can put forward the most relevant proposition depending on the customer’s needs. But regardless of the finish, UltraSky has all the quality hallmarks you’d expect from an Ultraframe system and that’s what our retail customers expect – tried, tested and trusted.”
Mark, you’re fitting UltraSky regularly, would you fit anything else? “no, in a nutshell. We’ve only ever worked with Ultraframe roof systems, so the addition of UltraSky is a perfect addition not only to our conservatory business but also our sister company – Diamond Kitchens. The combination of our kitchen expertise and roof business means that customers are getting something very special indeed. The key thing for us is the amount of uninterrupted glass – we’ve got two UltraSky in our showroom and once customers look up they’re sold, we mustn’t underestimate the power of uninterrupted sight lines, particularly in a lantern, where everything is so magnified. The point Andrew makes about accentuating a design feature, such as a kitchen shouldn’t be underestimated – UltraSky really does bring a wow to our kitchen designs.”
