Demerara window

For other uses of Demerara, see Demerara (disambiguation).
Francia Great House, Barbados, has Demerara windows.

Demerara windows were built primarily into 18th- and 19th-century Colonial architecture-styled buildings[a] to cool homes in hot climates, such as Guyana, before the invention of air conditioning. Demerara is a historical region of Guyana.

The window design includes perforated sides and louvres to block direct sunlight. They are shuttered sash windows with the shutter hinged at the top so it could be propped open, sloping outward.[2][3] They were generally propped open with a stick.[4] At the window sill, a container of ice, water, or a potted plant helps cool warm air as it passes through the window into the building. The windows are generally fitted in the upper floors. Initially, this type of window was just used in the homes of the wealthy, but spread over time to the homes of other classes of people.[2][3]

They were generally made of pine because the wood was less likely to move than native timbers in heat and humidity. It was generally made with twelve panes, which is a Georgian-style architectural detail.[2]

In other parts of the Caribbean, particularly the British colonies and territories such as Grenada,[5] the name came to be generally applied to a window that opens outwards from hinges at the top.[5]

  1. ^ National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago (January 18, 2016). "Hayes Court". National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Rory, Westmas (May 31, 2010). "Architecture - Building Under the Sun". Stabroek News. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Haley, Murtland (April 23, 2017). "The Demerara Window – the Colonial 'AC'". Kaieteur News. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  4. ^ Lise Winer (January 16, 2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-7735-7607-0.
  5. ^ a b Allen Noble (18 September 2009). Traditional Buildings: A Global Survey of Structural Forms and Cultural Functions. I.B.Tauris. pp. 206–. ISBN 978-0-85771-745-0.


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