Windows designed by Cambridge PhD student transform houses in war-torn Ukraine into liveable homes

Plastic windows designed by Cambridge PhD student Harry Blakiston Houston that can be built in 15 minutes from basic materials are transforming uninhabitable houses in war-torn parts of Ukraine into liveable homes.

Engineer Harry created the Insulate Ukraine project to replace bullet and bomb-damaged windows with a triple-glazed polyethylene one of his design, costing around £12 per square metre. He came up with the idea while queueing to see the late Queen lying in state last year and has paused his studies to concentrate on the initiative.

According to the United Nations, millions of people in Ukraine are “living in damaged homes or in buildings ill-suited to provide sufficient protection”, especially in winter when temperatures can plummet to -20C.

Harry said one woman in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, slept in her bath for two months as it was the warmest place in her house before the plastic windows were installed.

Harry said: “We were able to get her back to some kind of normality after the windows went in. The house was immediately warmer and lighter – she was able to actually live in her home again.”

Fedor Tikva, of Izyum, eastern Ukraine, said the new windows made his house liveable after the originals were destroyed by bombing.

The 64-year-old said: “It was impossible to live in that house because there were no windows and it was very damp and cold. There was no heating, all windows were broken, even the frames partly were damaged.

“This is a very great help, I am very satisfied with these windows. I am happy now because after the installation of all the windows the house became more cosy, warmer and lighter.”

He added: “We were the same happy after the installation of the windows as we were happy when the light and gas came back into our houses after the occupation. We are cheering and saying hooray.”

He shares the house with his sister, whose flat on the other side of the city burned down during the Russian occupation.

Insulate Ukraine staff member Helen Demchenko, who translated for Fedor, said new windows have been provided to more than 200 people in Izyum. Residents are either given materials to build the windows or staff and volunteers install them for vulnerable people. The project is operating across liberated parts of Ukraine.

Harry said: “The level of destruction the Russians left in their wake is astounding. There’s hardly a house in Izyum without bullet holes in it. In peacetime the city was home to 50,000 people, now there are 10,000. It’s just the most extraordinary image of destruction everywhere but now it’s safe.

“Part of Putin’s war is about trying to make people in Ukraine cold and miserable. It’s about breaking their resolve to actually continue defending themselves.

“We’ve come up with a solution that makes a real difference.”