Philadelphia

Most of our work is for developers, architects and general contractors. In Philadelphia that usually means one of three things: a multifamily window package for a new build or conversion, a storefront and entrance system at street level, or a stick-built curtain wall on a mixed-use or office elevation.

We work as a fabricator, not a contractor. There is no installation bid and no glazing crew competing with your sub. Send plans, elevations and a window schedule, and we return a line-by-line quote with recommendations, glazing build-ups and thermal performance stated up front, not later during submittals. Before anything is cut, shop drawings go to the architect for approval. Every quoted system comes with the documentation needed for submittal.

On larger jobs we deliver in phases, by floor, elevation or release, so units arrive when the building is ready for them. Our commercial window systems page explains the process in more detail. For ground-floor retail, lobbies and restaurants, entrance doors come with hardware prepped in the shop to your hardware schedule: closers, exit devices, electric strikes and access-control prep, with no field rework.

Philadelphia gets both extremes. Humid summers drive cooling loads and condensation risk, and cold winters with repeated freeze and thaw punish poor seals and conductive frames. Brick walls also make the frame-to-wall junction important, because that joint is where air and water usually get in.

Every Vitraz system is thermally broken, with insulated glazing standard and multi-point locking on every exterior unit. Tilt-and-turn sashes compress gaskets on all four sides, which is the difference most people notice first on a cold, windy day or a loud street. Options include triple glazing, Low-E coatings, argon fill, warm-edge spacers, solar control glass and acoustic laminates, specified per opening rather than across the whole building.

For projects chasing an energy target, all-electric design or a deep-energy retrofit, our Passive House windows start at triple glazing on the MB-104 Passive system, which carries Passive House Institute certificates for applicable configurations. Formal certification is not required to use it. Many projects simply want the best envelope performance they can get.

The process is the same for a single rowhouse or a full new-build elevation.

1. Survey and specification. Send drawings or a window schedule. If you do not have drawings yet, photos and rough sizes start the conversation, and we travel for the right project.
2. Quote. A line-by-line quote against a unit schedule, with glazing build-up and thermal performance for each opening.
3. Shop drawings. Issued for architect approval on commercial work before any profile is cut.
4. Fabrication. Cut, machined, assembled and glazed in our Brooklyn shop. Lead times are typically 2 to 6 weeks, sometimes as fast as 2 to 3 weeks, versus 10 to 12+ weeks for imported units.
5. Delivery. Units arrive glazed, finished and labelled by opening, with the technical detail your installer needs. Commercial jobs can be phased by floor or elevation.

You talk directly with the people building your windows. Changes are handled in days, not months. If you need an installer who knows these systems, we can refer one.