Holyrood Park Lodge

The Building

Building pre-intervention

Building post-intervention

Holyrood Park Lodge is a Category B listed Victorian lodge building built in 1857 in a neo-gothic style, located in a prominent position at the entrance to Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. Primarily designed for the constables who policed the Royal Park, it is bounded by the Palace of Holyroodhouse on one side and the Scottish Parliament on the other. Since 2007 the lower floor hosts visitor information and shop center for the Holyroodhouse area. The construction of the lodge is mainly traditional, with external masonry of coursed rubble and ashlar, internal linings mainly of lath and plaster upstairs, and a mixture of lath and plaster and modern plasterboard downstairs. By 1994 external changes were reworked to a more traditional style and more appropriate timber window casements were installed . The floors were covered in a cord type commercial carpet, but were all timber underneath and in reasonably good condition.

More Details

The Solution

Solution pre-intervention

Solution post-intervention

Solution post-intervention: holyrood_post_intervention_03.jpg

Solution post-intervention: holyrood_post_intervention_04.jpeg

What is the Solution?

The existing windows in the lodge were all single-glazed casement type windows of varying dates, with most having been fitted as part of the 1995 repair works. The casements in the shop corridor and main hall were fitted into original frames, with traces of the once common green paint in the lower layers. All frames and casements were in good condition, so the decision was taken to keep them and upgrade the glass with slim profile double glazed units from a Scottish supplier.

Why Does it work?

In Holyrood Park Lodge the frame of the existing windows was in good condition and therefore the decision was made to keep them. The glazing was replaced by new slim-profile double-glazed units, which significantly improved the energy characteristics of the windows without changing notably the appearance. The U-value is reduced by approx. 70% while the new glazing also improves the indoor climate by removing draughts.

PROS

Air tightness will most likely improve.
Double-glazed units replacing single-glazed units will significantly improve the energy aspects.

CONS

Replacing the glazing will alter the appearance of the building from both the outside and the inside.

Window Type before retrofit

Casement Window

Window glass type

Double (slim-profile) glass

Window frame material

Wood

Window position

Outside

Shading

No shading device

Health issue

information not available

Additional documentation

Installation Method

The casements were removed to the contractor’s workshop to fit new higher performance glass units, overhaul the hinges and stays, and check over that they are functional and operable before re-installing into the building frames. All the new insulated glass units were bedded in traditional linseed oil putty; to separate the linseed oil from the window edge seals, silicone was used on the edges. In addition to the improved glass, draught strips were rebated into the casement edges to reduce air infiltration.

Moisture Management and Technical Compatibility

information not available

Airtightness

During the air leakage testing, it was clear that there was still air leaking from the windows and the assessors judged that further window draught proofing would give a still better figure.