Unlike much of Europe, where neighbors might lean out from their windows to shout to one another Italian-style, a resident of a new-build apartment in England is lucky if they can squeeze a potted plant onto the sill of their tiny, prisonlike opening.
Who’s to blame for this injustice? Old ladies.
In a country that can go months without seeing the sun, windows have long been a key element in construction. Traditional British architecture is characterized by the majesty of Elizabethan halls with their palatial glass, the elegance of Georgian townhouses and their sash windows or the charm of Tudor cottages with their trademark diamond casements. Even the once derided, now celebrated Brutalist Barbican included a plethora of glass.
Today, a small, older lady should be able to reach every corner of that window for it to be built.
Guidance from the British Standards Institution on window safety recommends that windows in any new building should accommodate 95% of the U.K. adult population in terms of reach. Scottish recommendations are even more explicit, saying windows “should be cleanable from inside by 95% of the elderly female population, without the need for stretching.” It sets this population at an age range of 64-75.
Alongside the 2004 guidance sit two diagrams demonstrating the overhead and outward reach of an average older woman. The size of a window should allow for a maximum overhead reach of 71.9 inches and 21.9 inches while reaching out, according to the recommendation.
Critics say it’s a prime example of overregulation in the U.K., where following such guidance to the letter, rather than the spirit, generates ugly and ill-proportioned buildings.
“You won’t get any attractive buildings by following the regulations,” said Stephen Bayley, chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, a British charity that advises on building design.
From a design perspective, great buildings have an inspiring effect and affect people’s mood, he said. Having small windows makes buildings, and therefore their surroundings, less charming.
“It is difficult to execute such a thing with aesthetic finesse,” said Bayley.
The guidance for window sizing is a recommendation rather than a rule, which means builders in most of the U.K. don’t actually need to adhere to it. Indeed, the British Standards guidance itself states that “in some building types and circumstances other values are appropriate.”
Some say the small-window rule isn’t really acknowledged. Phil Irwin, a London-based builder, said an extendable pole can easily be used to clean the glass instead. “I’ve installed many floor to ceiling windows and never had issues,” he said.
Those in the industry have been arguing about the guidance for at least the past decade. It’s come to a head lately as housebuilding in the U.K. has reached record lows. In London, just 5,000 homes are being built a year, against a target of 88,000, largely due to delays caused by regulation.
That’s created a readiness among many builders to adhere to as many rules as possible to help increase the chances of their planning applications getting approved, Bayley said. Documents submitted several years ago as part of one planning application for a development complex with homes and office spaces in east London are, together, longer than Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” It has yet to be approved.
The victims of these regulations are often tenants, who have to make compromises on things like light and ventilation because the rental market is so bad.
There are, of course, costly workarounds to justify bigger windows, like adding balconies, said Nicholas Boys Smith, chairman of Create Streets, a think tank specializing in urban design. But that means the problem is worse in less prosperous areas where people can’t afford it.
“We have created a windows apartheid,” he said.
When it comes to windows, there are many conflicting rules, said Geoff Wilkinson, managing director of a London-based construction consulting firm.
Guidance around older women lowers windows so they can be cleaned easily. Other rules suggest windows be high enough so people don’t fall out.
“I’m not aware of huge numbers of elderly people falling out of windows whilst cleaning them,” he said.
Write to Natasha Dangoor at natasha.dangoor@wsj.com
