Restoring Victorian Splendour in a Terraced Home in St Albans
John Lives in Central St. Albans, a terraced Victorian property within a Conservation Area.
He’s lived there for a very long time, and the property has been through some pretty unsympathetic renovation and alteration work over the years, particularly during the 70s and 80s when traditional features didn’t seem to be so important to maintain as they are now.
The Challenge
John called us in as he felt it was time to start bringing things back to where they used to be aesthetically, but he also wanted the modern benefits of security, low maintenance and thermal insulation that come with modern windows.
He was keen to explore his options and asked us to help provide some inspiration.
Before and After images shown below
Practical problems and solutions
The current casement windows were very unsympathetic to the look and feel of a Victorian home. And not only that, when they were installed they were positioned in a totally different place to the original sashes, therefore altering the look and feel entirely.
We explained to John in detail how we could adjust the altered window surround, to reinstate a traditional ‘box’ setup, allowing us to position his new windows back from the face of the brickwork, in the right position to recapture the original look.
The right product for the job
The Bygone Harmony sliding sash window was the perfect product to transform the look of the front of his home and take it back to its former glory. We specified the windows including the ‘slim mullion’ feature to replicate the proportion of frame and glass as close to the original windows as possible.
We used the Bygone Harmony sash window, with a sympathetic and subtle woodgrain finish, to capture the feel of the timber sash, but as they’re from our timber alternative range, without the troublesome maintenance that John wasn’t keen to undertake long term.
Conservation
We also had to look carefully about what we were and weren’t allowed to do, as the property was in a conservation area. After some research online we discovered that John’s house wan’t covered by an Article 4 Direction. That meant that John could carry out the work under his permitted development rights, without the need for planning permission, or even to notify the local authority, as he was replacing sympathetically.
Over the moon
John was overjoyed with the end result, and impressed with how the completed installation made such a dramatic difference to the look and feel of his home. Now he wasn’t the ‘odd one out’ in the street!
Would you like to find out more about us?
Please contact us for further information and to discuss your home improvements on 020 8449 4747. Alternatively, please send us an email and we will get back to you.
