New windows for Grade II listed building Lindley House

If you’re local to Taunton, then you may have noticed scaffolding outside our Lindley House property. This is because Arc are preparing to replace 34 of the Georgian style single glazed sash windows throughout the house.

As a Grade II listed building from the Georgian era, all but three windows have been replaced at least once, resulting in a mixture of Georgian, Victorian, and mid 1900s workmanship. Most of them contain thin panes of glass with rotting surrounds and therefore pose a health and safety risk to clients and visitors. In addition, the windows are not draft proof and do not retain heat well, creating a significant carbon footprint — something that we are always looking to reduce.
 
As the property is Grade II listed, Arc had to gain planning permission from Somerset West and Taunton Council and their Conservation Officer has requested the windows are 'like for like', in keeping with the current Georgian style appearance. The replacement windows will be sliding sash windows using 6.8mm laminated acoustic glass and will continue to use pulleys, cords and weights to open the windows, to match the original Georgian design. The newly installed windows are estimated to last for up to 50 years.
 
This is an exciting project for everyone at Arc and one that we’ve been wanting to carry out for some time, but, due to the cost as it’s a listed building, we’ve had to wait until we were able to secure funding. Although we continue to fundraise for this project, we have been able to get started before the winter arrives, thanks to The Clothworkers Foundation who contributed a one off capital grant towards the project.

As well as installing the scaffolding, there has been and will be lots of work going on behind the scenes by our fantastic staff team too! Our Lindley House team will be co-ordinating our clients in and out of rooms whilst the windows are installed and will ensure there’s as little disruption as possible. Our in-house maintenance team will ensure our client’s rooms are tidied up internally following any building work so they can return to a comfortable and welcoming space.

Whilst the scaffolding is up, our maintenance team will also tidy up the guttering and decorate the rendered walls, improving the overall look of our hostel.
 
The installation of the windows will start on Monday the 14th September by JTP Joinery and will take approximately three weeks to complete. Below you can see the before and during photos of the project — keep an eye out on our social media channels for more photos and the finished result!