German International School of New York

REHAU windows and doors provide the comforts of home for families at White Plains International Boarding School

When you are thousands of miles from home, sometimes the smallest details can mean a lot. That was architect Rainer Schrom’s thinking as he selected REHAU System 4500 tilt-turn windows and matching REHAU sliding patio doors System 4500 Tilt-Slide Doors for four single-family homes to be built on the property of the German International School of New York (GIS) in White Plains.

When completed in the fall of 2016, the homes will house the families of students attending GIS, a private, bilingual college preparatory school for students in preschool through 12th grade. Located about 25 miles north of New York City, GIS enrolls about 400 students, mostly from German-speaking countries.

Schrom is the principal at Partners for Architecture, the Stamford, Connecticut-based firm that designed the four-bedroom residences. He describes them as “a typical American home, simple and as clean as possible.” The plans originally called for using a more traditional American window, but Schrom requested the switch to the System 4500, a dominant window style in Europe that has gained popularity among discerning architects, designers and homeowners in North America.

“In the end, it’s a performance plus price equation,” he says. An advocate for green building and high-efficiency structures, Schrom is using the System 4500 windows in his own sustainable design home being built in Fairfield, Connecticut. The System 4500 design produces some of North America’s highest-performing window and door units. When closed, the window’s compression-seal provides outstanding thermal and acoustical performance.

Although European in design, the windows for the GIS homes were made by Starr Windows in Yonkers, New York. Working with a manufacturer in the US reduces lead time and shipping duration. “If I can get the same quality of window, I prefer to work with a fabricator who is here,” Schrom says. He is also completing a project on Long Island Sound that has European-built windows, requiring a three-month lead time.

He also values the on-site support provided by REHAU as construction began on both the German school and his own home. When he found himself in need of window sill extensions for the punched windows, a REHAU representative responded with a custom-build solution