Does anyone know the purpose of this please?

[CaseyClay]

So I've been in my new home a few months now and just getting round to finding out what the reason is for these in front of the window. The window opening is higher up so doesn't really make sense to me! If anyone knows then please tell me :)

How odd! SO the bottom of the window doesn't open... perhaps someone was experimenting with home made double glazing and got it very wrong?

Maybe the old windows were sash style and it's some sort of safety feature that is no longer necessary? How odd. I would drive myself crackers pondering that! Is it on every window?

The house was only built 9 years ago by Taylor Wimpey. They are/were on every window which are all the original windows. The previous owner took some off but left them in case I wanted to put them back. Not one person who has visited could work it out either!

That's so bizarre- would Taylor wimpey be able to clarify, even if you contacted them under the pretext of 'previous owners have removed some and we wanted to know if we could remove the rest' ?

Good idea! I've just searched for them on Facebook and sent them a message with the photo asking if they are safe to be removed as I can't work out what they are! When I get a reply I shall post on here unless anyone else knows what they are before hand

Was yours the show home on the development? In which case they would be there to stop people opening the window and then when house returned to normal forgot to take them off

Are they a safety barrier? Not seen anything like them before and I would get rid!

I used to work in a former Victorian drawing office. We had similar to stop the drafts blowing papers around

Maybe they had a cat they didn't wAnt to be able to get out?

Thanks for your comments. All of the neighbouring houses have them too. The safety feature idea is a bit strange as I've also got a cat and they wouldn't stop him getting out of the window.

Not a brilliant photo but this is where the opening part of the window is in relation to it. There is literally only a couple mm gap between it and the actual window in case it's hard to make out from the photo.

How high from the floor is the bottom of your window ? If the window sits low on a wall then the glass has to be safety glass. In our last house we had low sitting windows due to it being a 1930's house. We had to get safety glass when we got the windows replaced. I think windows have to be above waist height ?
Perhaps after the houses were built and windows put in someone realised that the windows were too low and should have had safety glass. Instead of the cost of adding bricks and changing windows, that extra barrier was a cheaper option ?

I think 8misskitty8 might be right.

Now I need to know!

Modern draft excluder or safety mechanism to prevent children climbing/sitting on window sills

Is it one of those ventilation things?

Any help from this list? www.renewalbyandersen.com/homeowner-help/glossary.aspx

How tall is the glass "fence"?

Could it be some sort of thermal barrier?
Warm air rises and colder air sinks. If it's cold outside, the air closest to the window will be colder than the rest of the air in the room. This "sheet" of cold air can sink and cause a draught, and the little fence is meant to deflect it?

I think 8misskitty8 has it!

See Diagram 2 in the PDF here.

www.buildingcontrolalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2010/08/ACAI-LABC-Guarding-Tech-Note.pdf

Thanks everyone! I think I'm inclined to agree that @8misskitty8 is right about this. Seems the only logical explanation. Still confused as to how that extra piece of glass can make it any safer though

I don't think it does make it safer in practice, but the windows as installed were illegal (the fear is someone would trip head first into them and as they are low, and non-safety glass, would hurtle through the window), so they had to put a small barrier in front of them to ensure the (non-safety) glass only starts at the permitted height above floor level. The barrier could have been wood, or metal, but they chose (safety) glass to minimise the visual impact. It would have been something they just had to do to get building reg sign off.