Demerara window

{{Short description|Colonial architecture-style window}}

{{For|other uses of Demerara|Demerara (disambiguation)}}

thumb

File:FRANCIA GREAT HOUSE BARBADOS.jpg, Barbados, has Demerara windows.]]

Demerara windows were built primarily into 18th- and 19th-century Colonial architecture-styled buildings{{efn|It was also used into the 20th century, such as Hayes Court (1910), one of the Magnificent Seven Houses in Trinidad and Tobago{{cite web | author=National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago| url=http://nationaltrust.tt/location/hayes-court/ | title=Hayes Court | website=National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago | date=January 18, 2016 |accessdate=November 21, 2016}} and the Francia Great House (late 19th century or early 20th century).}} 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. They were generally propped open with a stick.{{cite book|author=Lise Winer|title=Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_n82hsbDJBMC&pg=PA290|date=January 16, 2009|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-7607-0|page=290}} 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2017/04/23/the-demerara-window-the-colonial-ac/ |title=The Demerara Window – the Colonial 'AC' |date=April 23, 2017 |work=Kaieteur News |first=Murtland |last=Haley|access-date=June 2, 2018}}

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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/guyana-review/05/31/architecture/ |title=Architecture - Building Under the Sun |last=Rory |first=Westmas |date=May 31, 2010 |work=Stabroek News |access-date=June 2, 2018}}

In other parts of the Caribbean, particularly the British colonies and territories such as Grenada,{{cite book|author=Allen Noble|title=Traditional Buildings: A Global Survey of Structural Forms and Cultural Functions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MYkAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206|date=18 September 2009|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0-85771-745-0|pages=206–}} the name came to be generally applied to a window that opens outwards from hinges at the top.{{cite book|author=Allen Noble|title=Traditional Buildings: A Global Survey of Structural Forms and Cultural Functions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MYkAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206|date=18 September 2009|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0-85771-745-0|pages=206–}}