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Historic Durham homes given new old look

ByEmily

May 3, 2017

An historic Durham building dating back to 1759 has been returned to its traditional appearance after careful work by one of the north east’s largest landlords.

 

The Georgian building on Church Street in the heart of Durham city centre has been disfigured for decades by unsympathetic 1980s windows. But now County Durham Housing Group has restored the 18th century structure to its former glory.

After detailed research new timber framed sash windows have been produced to closely match the original style of the building. The new windows however feature the latest thin double glazing technology so that the building regains its traditional appearance, while tenants benefit from warmer homes and lower energy bills.

Tenant Margaret Bottoms, who has been living in Church Street for seven years, said: “The new windows are absolutely brilliant; we’ve been looking forward to having this work done for a long time. It feels so much warmer inside the house now.”

Although the majority of the grade II listed building is owned by County Durham Housing Group, arrangements were made for all of the premises to be improved at the same time by working closely with two other owners.

Building Surveyor from County Durham Housing Group, Daryl Reed, said: “The property is a really attractive example of Georgian construction. But, probably in the 1920s, some of the windows were replaced and repaired using more modern materials and techniques.

“When the more modern windows reached the end of their life we decided that it was only right to go the extra mile and do as much as we could to put the building back to its traditional appearance. We’re really pleased with the high quality of work we’ve been able to achieve.”

The windows were produced in County Durham by Coxhoe Timber Services, supporting local jobs.

Roland Cubello, from Coxhoe Timber Services, said: “This has been a very complicated job needing a lot of detailed work; liaising with heritage experts, meeting the requirements of planning for a listed building and working in partnership with County Durham Housing Group. But the end result has been more than worth it, we’re very pleased with the job.”

Installation and repairs to the walls of the building were done in house by staff at County Durham Housing Group.

By Emily