Issue 41 Spring web - Flipbook - Page 8
New Steel Framed Glazing
Takes Pride of Place in
London Conservation Area
Updating or altering a building located within a Conservation Area requires the owner to apply for
permission and securing this can be a lengthy process. Therefore, it is prudent to start discussions with
the planning authority or to involve a conservation architect or heritage consultant as early in the
process as possible. Ultimately, what these specialists will be aiming to achieve is the retention of the
specific character of the building involved with reference to its style, the time period it was designed
and constructed in, and the surrounding area.
Replacing steel windows in a Conservation Area may be
necessary because the existing windows have deteriorated
due to age or neglect and are no longer fit for purpose, or
because there is a need to reduce the energy loss from the
original frames. New steel windows are also required when
an extension is added to a building and the new fenestration needs to match the rest of the windows and doors
and to replace inappropriate plastic windows that were
installed at an earlier, less regulated time.
We tend to think of steel windows as belonging to the
mid-twentieth century. However, before the introduction
of standardised rolled steel window sections at the end of
the First World War, steel windows were already popular
in domestic architecture, particularly as a result of the
fashion for leaded light windows in the late nineteenth
and first half of the twentieth century.
Today, the steel window replacement industry remains
dominated by hot rolled steel windows whose profiles are
close in appearance to those which have existed in a
similar form for around 150 years. The look of a mild steel
frame has not really changed since late Victorian times
and the basic ‘Z’ pattern section used to create both fixed
and opening lights remains universal.
There are fewer profiles available today and steel windows
do vary significantly, but new steel profiles can - at high
cost - be rolled to order to replicate even rare and unusual
examples of historic fenestration.
Modern steel frames are hot dip galvanised to EN ISO
BS:1461:2022, weather stripped and have a surface
coating of polyester powder paint to BS 6497 2005 EN
13438 2018 applied. Subject to the historic significance
of the property Conservation Officers will insist on single
glazed replicas, but it is possible to produce double glazed
insulated glass units which are very close to the look of a
traditional steel window. These double glazed units will
achieve energy preservation, security, reduction of sound
and solar gain without detracting from the building’s
appearance.
Hampstead Garden Suburb in London was designated a
Conservation Area in 1968. Internationally recognised as
one of the finest examples of early twentieth century
domestic architecture and town planning, the Suburb was
conceived by Henrietta Barnett in the early years of the
1900s as a model community of beautiful houses set in a
verdant landscape and the properties within it were
designed by some of the best architects of the day.
Today the Suburb comprises around 5,000 properties and
is home to some 16,000 people. The Hampstead Garden
Suburb Trust operates a management scheme which
requires freeholders to get prior approval before altering
Below, Arts & Crafts style house in Hampstead Garden Suburb
fitted with new bespoke steel windows with leaded lights from the
Clement Brooking range
