Building Language: Window Sash

Window Sashes on 1060 Virginia Avenue, Fountain Square

Window Sash. You might have heard the term “sash” used in reference to windows, but were you unsure exactly what the term indicated? Have no fear – we’ll clear that up in today’s Building Language. A window sash is one (singular) frame used to house the glass panes and muntins of a window. Another way to look at it – the sash is the individual, moveable section of a window. Windows may have multiple sashes (many have two) to create an operable window that can open and close. A window with a single sash may be referred to as a fixed window if it does not open in any way.

We’ll start with a simple example – this window found on the historic storefront at 1060 Virginia Avenue in Fountain Square. This window has two sashes – or two individual, moveable pieces – a top panel and a bottom panel. This historic window has lots of character with the arched, brick lintel.

Another example of windows featuring two sashes are found on the Morris-Butler House (1204 North Park Avenue) in the Old Northside. The windows in the tower feature four panes in each sash (four-over-four pane sashes), while the windows on the first and second floor mostly feature a single pane sash (one-over-one pane sashes).

Window Sashes on Morris-Butler House (1204 North Park Avenue)

So, now that you understand the basics of sashes, lets look at a more complicated example. Hinkle Fieldhouse (510 West 49th Street) at Butler University features extremely large windows on its eastern and western ends – on its “third floor.” These windows on the end feature different number of sashes as the windows get increasingly taller. While the windows on the ends appear to have two sashes (a right and a left), with thirty panes in each sash; the windows in the center feature six sashes (tip – window sashes are split in the center, then broken into three different sections), with thirty panes in each sash.