Ral 7016 aka the colour you don’t realise you are seeing everywhere!

You may not realise it yet, but you probably see Ral7016 on a fairly regular basis… but where?... and more importantly, why? Ral 7016, is the aluminium powder coating colour from the European colour matching system known as the “RAL Colour Chart” and it is probably better known by the public as “Anthracite Grey”.

Boosted by the upsurge in Aluminium fabricated windows and doors, Anthracite Grey has become one of, if not the most requested powder coating colours, so much so that most paint suppliers now carry is as a standard colour.

Firmly established as an architect favourite, Ral 7016 is everywhere, from being fitted in the latest home extensions and orangeries, completing new build homes and indeed even entire estates, to retail and restaurant frontages on the high street and high rise apartment and office buildings seen throughout city centres.

Its popularity has been exponential, but why? Well, certainly in the domestic homeowner market, it’s fair to say that Ral 7016 offers a unique combination of benefits including:

• a very versatile grey tone that works extremely well with most building materials (bricks, render, stone etc)
•  an inconspicuous appearance compared to white, ensuring that the window or door frame doesn’t particularly stand out and detract from the overall beauty of an extension or orangery
•  an extremely low maintenance requirement thanks to its dark colour being forgiving to any dirt and residue that may contaminate it

but perhaps its most important feature is that, when used in combination with an existing windows and door scheme of a different colour, it is one of the easiest colours to integrate for a successful overall aesthetic, which is one of the most common aims of our clients.

In our experience, a large majority of existing homes still have the popular UPVC white windows of the last 20-30 years installed throughout and in a lot of cases the homeowner is not quite ready to upgrade them.

This provides a conundrum when they decide to increase the size of their home by adding on an extension or orangery, which more often than not features large expanses of glass in the form of windows or doors, and often the ever popular bi-fold doors.

One of the main disadvantages of white PVCU is its chunky proportions and lack of strength, so for the client looking to maximise on light flow in and external views out of their new addition, PVCU is at the bottom of the pile. If they also want to add in a feature bi-fold door, it simply makes sense to use aluminium.

But rather than simply choosing white powder coating, the RAL colour choices on offer present a tempting option to try something different, something more current, more unique even. This is where RAL 7016 excels.

Whether their existing window and door scheme is white UPVC, a different coloured aluminium or even a stained real timber, when it comes to styling an extension’s windows and doors, Anthracite Grey compliments and contrasts in the most successful manner.

Additionally, with its inconspicuous slim line profiling and unobtrusive colouring, we find that additions adorned with Aluminium RAL 7016 windows and doors blend effortlessly across the board in all property styles, from traditional right up to ultra-modern.

While there are many RAL colours to choose from when powder coating aluminium, the RAL 7016 colour leads the way in popularity thanks to its versatility when applied to aluminium’s beautiful profile that produces a product that can immerse itself into almost any existing style of property, existing window and door colour/fabricate scheme, and still look like it was supposed to be there all along.

It’s unique ability to subtly flow with the overall aesthetic of the home is what makes this one of, if not the most popular colour for home additions and beyond, and we anticipate that it will lead the way in changing the colour of the nation’s windows and doors.