The Whiteley

Successful restoration of a masterpiece

The Whiteley is considered to be London's first luxury department store. In recent years, the huge complex has been extensively brought into the 21st century by Foster+Partners. One of London's most impressive historic facades has been given new meaning: the restoration and conservation of this architectural masterpiece by Propak Architectural Glazing and Jansen creates an exemplary bridge between past and future.

Due to the single glazing of the old windows, it was necessary to develop a solution that improved thermal efficiency without resorting to secondary glazing. The aim was to create a thermally optimized replica of the original windows. 170 highly customized windows had to be designed, manufactured and installed as custom-made products. Propak attached particular importance to integrating as many original elements as possible into the new design. A key challenge was to achieve the required insulation values on the one hand and to retain the slender profiles of the original windows on the other. Fastening the large and heavy elements posed a particular challenge.

By using the Jansen VISS and Janisol Arte 66 systems, The Whiteley has become an exemplary example of the preservation of historical substance in combination with modern, sustainable building technologies.