Sash window repairs and restoration in St James's
We restore, repair and draught-proof timber sash windows in St James's and in St James's Square, King Street and Bury Street. Some of the oldest sash windows in London survive here, in early-eighteenth-century houses, clubs and chambers. The St James's Conservation Area covers the district, and high listing grades are not unusual.
The windows of St James's
St James's was laid out from the 1660s, and the houses that survive from the early eighteenth century carry some of the earliest sashes in London. They differ from later work: heavy glazing bars, small panes, and in places boxes left exposed on the face of the wall rather than tucked behind the brick. The clubs on Pall Mall and St James's Street and the chambers in the side streets add large Victorian sashes on a much grander scale. On windows this old, the aim is to keep every original piece of timber and glass we can, and to note what has to be replaced. Shutters and panelled linings often survive alongside them.
What matters most in St James's
St James's keeps some of the earliest sash windows in London, with heavy glazing bars, small panes and, in places, boxes left exposed on the face of the wall. On work this old, restoration means saving every original piece of timber and recording whatever has to be replaced, with the method agreed in advance where a building is highly graded.
Old glass in those small panes deserves the same restraint, and glass and glazing here is about cleaning, securing and reputtying what is there rather than renewing it. The clubs and chambers add large Victorian sashes on a far grander scale, worked to their own surveyors' specification. Panelled linings and shutters often survive beside the sashes, and we bring them back into good order at the same time.
What we do in St James's
Conservation in St James's
The St James's Conservation Area covers the whole district, and a number of its buildings are listed at Grade I or II*. Our guide to conservation areas and Article 4 directions explains how it works. Check your own address on Westminster City Council's conservation area and Article 4 map, and we will go through what your windows need at the survey. Where an application does need drawings, we can prepare them. That is separate work and we quote for it.
Common questions
Do you work for clubs and chambers?01
Yes. Much of the work in St James's is for institutions and their surveyors, on large sashes in occupied buildings. We programme it floor by floor and work from inside wherever we can, so rooms stay in use. We are used to working to a surveyor's specification and to the access arrangements of a club or set of chambers. Each building's own rules on noise and working hours come first.
Can early-eighteenth-century sashes be draught-proofed?02
Often, though the sections are thinner and each window is checked first. Where routing a groove would weaken an original sash, we leave it and suggest working shutters or secondary glazing instead. On a highly graded building we agree the approach with the owner's advisers before cutting anything. See draught-proofing.
Do you cover all of St James's?03
Yes: St James's Square, Pall Mall, St James's Street, King Street, Jermyn Street, Bury Street and Duke Street St James's, and on to Piccadilly and Mayfair. A free digital survey from photographs is the usual first step, with a site visit to confirm. Access is planned with each building's management before any work begins.
Book a survey
Send us photographs of your windows and we'll tell you what needs doing and what doesn't, with a written quotation. The digital survey is free.
Free digital survey with written quotation