Banqueting House and its priceless history protected with the help of Selectaglaze

Designed in 1619-22 by Inigo Jones, Grade I Listed Banqueting House has stood witness to many historical events; its primary use was to stage State events, masques, provide private drinking space for James I and in 1636 to display the great ceiling paintings of James I by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. Banqueting house throne Throne in Banqueting House Shockingly in 1649 at 2 o’clock on a cold January afternoon, Charles I was lead out of an upstairs window (removed for the purpose) of Banqueting House and stepped straight onto a hurriedly erected scaffold and was publicly executed. Selectaglaze, was commissioned to provide a fitting bespoke solution that not only offered blast and acoustic protection to the large windows, but was a discreet and unobtrusive window treatment, to blend in with the historic Inigo Jones designed interior. To meet these requirement Series 50 hinged casements were specified. Selectaglaze knew it had products certified to the requirement, but they had never been specified to these sizes. The Main Hall window openings were 3.6m high and 2.0m wide. Two years ago, testing was carried out for what turned out to be the largest ever single casement to be blast tested in the UK. The results were a success and planning for the installation began. Installing the units provided an interesting challenge as half the openings were at upper gallery level 10m above the main floor. The gallery could not be loaded. Working very closely with Gardiner & Theobald, structural engineers Hockley & Dawson and Royal Warrant holding scaffolders Allen and Foxworthy, a careful method of installation was devised involving a columnar scaffolding design complete with lifting apparatus to each opening. In all, 39 units were installed.  As well as offering blast protection and noise insulation in access of 45dB, the secondary glazing also provides essential UV filtering to the Thomson Specification approved by the National Gallery, V&A and others.

Never miss one bit!

Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive updates on our news and CPD initiatives.

Thank you!

Thanks for joining our mailing list.

Our use of cookies

We use cookies to provide you with a great experience and to help our website run effectively. You can find out more and change your cookie preferences anytime on our Cookie Policy page.