The Sash Window Is Back From the Dead

Anyone old enough to remember the 1980s will probably remember the rows of sash window fronted houses in all the streets – those smart facings and their neat little gardens giving out that air peculiar to the English street. Every English town used to take its atmosphere and its lead from the smart appearance of its streets – until the march of press decreed that the appearance of its streets should henceforth be all about plastic fascias and casements. The sash slow dropped out of architectural design language – until recently, when it started to reappear again on modern buildings.

The real reasons for the decline of the old style sash had a lot to do with the materials it was made of. The mechanisms that raised and lowered the sash part of the window were notoriously subject to swelling, damp and freezing. The new types of sash have solved these problems by using modern materials and frames coated with anti bacterial preparations. The anti bacterial chemicals used on frame seals and frames means no mould gets in – and that means, of course, that the working parts of the sash mechanism stay perfect throughout their lives.

The modern sash is already reappearing on new builds – and is proving a popular choice for people who are interested in having their homes extended, or who are remodelling existing rooms. With several different styles of sash window available, there really is something for every look and every budget – from the quick fit of the all round economy sash, which is used to fill existing window holes in any room, to the opulent glory of a fully bespoke Magnum Sliding sash- the kind of thing one would expect to see gracing the lower floors of a national museum or art gallery.

See, that is one of the things about the sash that no other window can really pull off. A sash has a certain architectural gravitas to it that simply cannot be replicated by other types or styles of window frame and opening. A sash makes a building look smart and sophisticated. And it gives the most air in summer with probably the widest opening part of any window type in modern use. Just imagine trying to stick your head out of a window that is not a sash window, and inhale the summer breeze.

With so much that is modern also equating to ugly, it is wonderful to know that the most modern window of all, the modern sash, has deliberately looked to its predecessors for its look and feel. Indeed, the only thing that has really changed is the things it is made from.  Modern sash window is a thing of beauty, just like the old – and it is also a thing that has finally been built to last. Maybe we’ll see another era of smart looking British streets, now it is back.