A historical conumdrum

[powerdesal]

Given that North West Europe ( France particularly ) has substantially the same climatic conditions as England, and given the historical Norman influence on England since 1066.

Why are French house windows designed to open inwards whereas English house windows predominantly open outwards ( or slide, as in sash windows )

What drove the opposing design philosophy ?

Discuss:-

[Judith]

Perhaps because houses in England had internal shutters (if they had any) so easier to open the windows outwards.  In France the majority of shutters open outwards (I have seen some internal shutters in France but they are in the minority), hence the windows open inwards.

However, this is just a best guess, so I  may be entirely wrong!  It may just be culture!

But an interesting question nevertheless.

[NormanH]

If the windows open inwards it is easier to keep slatted shutters closed, but open the actual window to let a breeze blow through.

Hard to do that if the window opens outwards.

[powerdesal]

I totally agree Norman, and I think the French way has other advantages as well. However, what I am interested in is why the opposing philosophies of design happened.

Presumably people of the same era in England had the same requirements for a breeze.

[Rabbie]

Outward opening doors and windows have the advantage that they will move tighter against their seals when there is a strong wind blowing against them. Inward opening ones will tend to let in a draught if not extremely well fitted. In Sweden most front doors open outwards for this reason.

Of course as Norman says inward opening windows have an advantage in warm summers to provide easier ventilation. Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

Historically glass windows are a relatively recent addition to ordinary peoples homes as glass used to be very expensive.

[EuroTrash]

I don't think breezes come into it really. Must be to do with the shutters. If you have shutters, the windows need to open inwards or you can't reach out and shut the shutters. Did English houses ever used to have shutters to the same extent as French houses? I don't think they did. And although shutters wouldn't have been as necessary in the north of France as they were in the south to keep the inside cool in summer and warm in winter, I guess the received wisdom was that when you build a house you put shutters on it, you didn't ask yourself why - and in any case shutters are useful for all kinds of reasons. Same in Spain etc. But the English wouldn't have been familiar with that, so they did their own thing and it turned out different.

Well that's my theory anyway.

[powerdesal]

ET, the English, during the 11th century and through to the 13th century must have been very familiar with the practices of France, or certainly of the part that is now France. After all, Normandy etc were considered to be part of England. Calais was certainly an ''English'' town.

The Norman influence is very apparent in the style of English churches from that period following 1066.

The north of France is not that different from the South East of England, Kent et al. in terms of climate / weather so it would be expected that the inter-action of the time would result in similar practices in all sorts of things, ie building design and construction.

[nomoss]

Maybe both had shutters before windows were available to "ordinary" people, at which time the english replaced them with outward opening windows, which also have the advantages of not taking up space in the room when opened, and providing sills on which to put souvenirs of Benidorm (or Canterbury or Winchester, in their day) :-

[IMG]http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab131/nomoss/medieval_wood_and_lead_window-600.jpg[/IMG]

 

The french, however, under threat from so many invaders, kept their shutters, so had to use inward opening windows.

Nowadays, shutters (or bars) are mandated here by the insurance companies.

[powerdesal]

Are the insurance companies expecting another invasion then ?

Another thought is that outward opening windows was the result of intense lobbying by the 'Guild of Window Cleaners', after all, with inward opening windows it's far easier to clean them yourself and gets rid of the need to employ a 'professional'.

[Hoddy]

I wonder if it had more to do with security and warmth than anything else ? Windows only became widely used in England in the early 1600s and at that time they appeared on inventories as part of people's moveable estate so there would have been no question about whether they opened or not.

It also occurs to me that it might be something to do with different approaches to privacy. Once people were well off enough to have fitted windows and a light inside there was a loss of privacy.

What an interesting question.

Hoddy

[idun]

I don't like windows opening outwards, I love shutters and windows opening inwards. Easy to clean the windows and they get less dirty  as they are not exposed to all the bad weather.

I have neither shutters or opening inwards windows now, one of life's compromises. I also have a lot of carpets, and I prefer tiles, maybe one day.

 

You ask why, but the inside shutters etc, seem a good enough reason to me for this happening.

[EuroTrash]

@powerdesal "ET, the English, during the 11th century and through to the 13th century must have been very familiar with the practices of France, or certainly of the part that is now France. After all, Normandy etc were considered to be part of England. Calais was certainly an ''English'' town.

The Norman influence is very apparent in the style of English churches from that period following 1066.

"

I wasn't actually thinking of Norman invasion times. I thought they had castles in those days didn't they, and added arrow-slots a bit later - never seen an arrow-slot with shutters though it's not a bad idea. I don't think we have many 11th to 13th century houses left do we? Was thinking of later on, maybe 15th century.

[Russethouse]

When we moved to our present house we inherited inward opening windows, this meant that in some rooms because of the height of the window in relation to the ceiling, there was no room for curtain track, so the curtains had been hung several feet in!

When we asked about this we were told the windows were manufactured in Germany and they have inward opening windows because of the snow.....

Luckily a local curtain fitter came and installed very slim curtain track, fitted to the ceiling and we had this until we changed the glazing

[idun]

Russethouse said: When we asked about this we were told the windows were manufactured in Germany and they have inward opening windows because of the snow

 

Sometime ago I mentioned that on all these Swedish things I have been watching that the doors opened outwards. It was said that the weather kept the door well shut and I agree it would. However, I am still wondering how people don't get stuck in their homes with the snow up against their doors. Even if the main door is well placed against the prevailing weather, that  snow doesn't always fall where it should.

 

[Rabbie]

[quote user="idun"]

Russethouse said: When we asked about this we were told the windows were manufactured in Germany and they have inward opening windows because of the snow

 

Sometime ago I mentioned that on all these Swedish things I have been watching that the doors opened outwards. It was said that the weather kept the door well shut and I agree it would. However, I am still wondering how people don't get stuck in their homes with the snow up against their doors. Even if the main door is well placed against the prevailing weather, that  snow doesn't always fall where it should.

 

[/quote]Having lived for 10 years in Sweden with an outward opening front door during the rather snowy eighties we never had a problem with snow blocking the door. Perhaps because the deep snow falls in Sweden are usually made up of very light fluffy snow it moves easily when you open the the door and then you can shovel it away. However the windows did open inwards which made for easier cleaning.