Across London, there are many unique homes that have been built decades or even centuries ago. These homes, called period homes, contain unique layouts, vintage materials and architectural designs that give the home its character. Period homes are found in conservation areas which are areas that are worthy of being preserved due to their historical and architectural value.
At Timbertherm, we’ve worked in many conservation areas across the UK, dealing with bespoke requests on period homes. One such area is New Cross in South East London.
New Cross holds some very special buildings and areas with strong historical and cultural value. This includes locations such as the renowned Goldsmiths University, New Cross Fire Station, a Grade II listed building, and the popular The Venue nightclub.
In New Cross, there are also many Victorian and Edwardian period houses. Many of these contain traditional styles of windows and doors, such as box sash windows. Due to each house being treated differently throughout the years, no two house are ever the same.
Over time, period houses do need to get restored or enhanced due to the degradation of materials. However, this must be done in proper fashion to ensure that period house retains its character and property value. Timber is a common material used in period houses for windows and doors and should be replaced with newer, conservation-approved timber.
However, nowadays there are alternatives to timber, mainly the use of environmentally damaging materials such as PVC for windows and doors. Though cheaper initially, the mismatching of PVC, it’s lesser durability and thermal efficiency means this greatly damages the period houses, both in property value and its historical character.
At Timbertherm, we promote the sustainable and sympathetic use of timber windows and doors when working in conservation areas and listed buildings, only using timber that is conservation-approved. Due to the nature of our work, we’re experienced in dealing with a wide variety of bespoke properties and we can fit the style of many different period houses.
As members of the Forest Stewardship Council, we will work with your period home’s original designs to ensure that we make an exact replication or enhancement where replication is not possible.
Enhancements are meant to improve your period home without compromising its property value whilst making use of modern techniques. An example of this would be in specialist glazing, which can replicate the original glazing but improve a period home’s thermal efficiency.