Glazing London windows against the sun’s rays: a cautionary tale

London is not known for being terribly sunny most of the time. In fact, it is best known for being quite cloudy and gloomy for much of the year. That said, though, the city experiences an average of 1,460 hours of sunlight each year, and during this time, temperatures can climb to a high of 22 degrees Celsius (or 70 degrees Fahrenheit) during its hottest month, July.

This may not seem like a heat wave compared to other parts of the world that frequently see triple-digit temperatures. However, it is still hot enough for Londoners to take precautions to protect themselves and their buildings from sun damage by installing adequate reflective glass in windows.

20 Fenchurch St is a 37-story London skyscraper that has gained notoriety of late due to problems caused by the buildings’ unique shape and mirror-like glass windows. The building’s unique concave shape earned it the nickname “La Pinta”, due to its resemblance to a bar glass, and was an aesthetic choice made by the building’s architect. This form also increased the number of rooms available to tenants in the higher parts of the building, which is where the rent is highest, making the building potentially very profitable.

However, this unique shape has its advantages and disadvantages, as it posed a unique problem for the residents of the city. This is because, at certain times of the day, for intervals of about two hours, its curved windows focus direct sunlight, creating a superheated beam that burns the hair of residents and even melts car parts of those who had unlucky enough to have parked directly. cross the street at the wrong time. Some people have even fried eggs in the building’s sunbeam!

The notorious glazing problem in this unique building has led to numerous lawsuits filed by victims of these dangerous concentrations of light. And at this time, the City of London itself has had to take steps to prevent further damage by applying temporary screens to the exteriors of the building.

While this building is certainly unique, it has still become a perfect example of why Londoners should always take care to have proper glare protections on the windows of every building, because even in one of the foggiest cities in the world UK, inadequate windows can be unfortunate. consequences. It’s important to install windows that not only affect your own indoor comfort level, but also don’t pose problems for people outside, such as annoying glare, or even, as we see in the “Pint,” potentially dangerous heat rays. .