Cat A & B Listed · LBC Handled · From £1,895 per window
Edinburgh New Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 11,000+ listed buildings — almost every window is regulated. Heatscape's New Town specialists work with the City of Edinburgh Council heritage planners and the New Town Conservation Committee to deliver restoration and slim-line glazing scopes that get approved on first submission. No estate agents' shortcuts, no like-for-like uPVC, no compromises on proportion.
The First, Second and Third New Towns (built 1767-1850) are listed as a single World Heritage Site. Every external alteration to a listed building needs Listed Building Consent, and the New Town Conservation Committee scrutinises every application. The council's working assumption is that original windows should be repaired in preference to replacement; that any glazing upgrade should be slim-line with hand-blown outer panes; and that paint colours should match the historic palette of the terrace. Get any of this wrong and the application is refused.
Full restoration includes dismantling all sashes, splicing any rotten timber in matched-grain seasoned softwood, renewing all cords in waxed cotton, restoring original Crown or Cylinder glass (mandatory on Cat A), re-bedding putty in dark linseed, three-coat linseed-oil paint in the agreed heritage colour, brass hardware restoration or replacement with matching pieces, and a full photographic record for the council. Typically £895-£1,495 per pair of restored sashes.
On many Cat B and a growing number of Cat A New Town properties, the council now accepts slim-line argon units 11-14mm deep, provided the outer leaf is hand-blown to retain the Crown-glass ripple and the astragal width is unchanged. Slimlite Heritage and FineO are the units of choice. £350 per sash retrofit. The U-value improvement (5.8 to 1.2 W/m2K) often makes a 19th-century parlour usable in winter for the first time in a generation.
Replacement on a New Town listed building requires demonstrable structural failure of the original — rotten pulley stiles, racked sashes beyond plane, or unauthorised previous uPVC requiring reinstatement. When approved, replacements are engineered Accoya in the original 6-over-6 Georgian pattern with hand-blown outer glass, brass hardware and a microporous linseed paint finish. £2,295-£2,995 per window depending on size.
Even on the New Town's tall parlour sashes (often 2.4m tall, 1.4m wide), we install entirely from inside the flat using our sash-removal jig. No external scaffold, no platform licence application, no disruption to neighbours. Two to three days per window on site, full carpet protection, dust contained with negative-pressure containment for any sanding.
Every New Town project includes a full LBC application: heritage statement (1,500-2,500 words), photographic survey of every elevation, scale drawings, method statement, paint colour specification, glazing specification with manufacturer data sheets, and submission to City of Edinburgh Council Planning. We liaise with the council heritage officer throughout the 8-week determination period.
Listed-building paperwork sorted for us, original sashes saved, and the front room is no longer a wind tunnel. Brilliant from quote to completion.
James & Catriona R., Stockbridge EH3 — Sash & case restoration + secondary glazing · 5/5 ·
Quietest the house has ever been. Bay windows look stunning, and the survey caught a lintel issue two other firms missed.
Rachel B., Trinity EH5 — Triple glazing — full house · 5/5 ·