A new chapter

Every Selectaglaze project starts with understanding the building. For Chapter House, that meant looking at what it was built for, and what it needed to become. When Wren designed Chapter House, he imagined a residence and workplace for the Dean and members of St Paul's, but today the building is multi-purpose. Yes, it remains a working part of St Paul's Cathedral but also doubles as a space for events. That shift in use brought its own challenge. Because Wren designed Chapter House with towering windows to let in as much natural light as possible, their large areas of single glazing also meant significant heat loss. This made it difficult to maintain a comfortable temperature. The Dean and Chapter needed a solution that would solve the heat loss problem without compromising the building's character. Selectaglaze recommended a range of sympathetic secondary glazing solutions that would improve performance while sitting discreetly alongside the historic timber frames. Six different products from our range were used throughout the building. More than 120 units were installed, in six different colour finishes, each designed to complement the existing frames. Most were finished in 'matt 8003 fawn brown', a close match to the originals, allowing the secondary glazing to blend seamlessly with the timber panelling. Selectaglaze can match frames to a wide range of standard powder-coated, wood-grain and anodised finishes. The job was a success. Chapter House's elegant mullioned sash windows continue to be one of its most recognisable features, flooding the interior with natural light and attracting admiration from visitors and staff alike, but they're efficient too, able to cut heat loss by up to 50%.