Window tinting in St Leonards and North Sydney
Window film for apartments and offices in the towers along the ridge, and for the older flats and houses that step down to the harbour in Kirribilli, Lavender Bay and McMahons Point.
A tower job here starts with the lift and the loading dock. A harbourside job starts with the stairs and the original timber windows. Both go on the schedule before any film is cut.
Tower schedule
- LiftGoods lift booked through the building manager
- DockLoading dock: height clearance and time slot noted
- W1Living room, glass to the balcony, panes 3 and 4: Heat, Glare
- OwnerWritten permission from the owner, then the committee
Only if you rent. Install booked once both have answered.
Walk-up schedule
- StairsSecond floor, no lift: film carried up the stairs
- ParkWhere the van can stop: street, lane or permit zone
- W1Front room, timber sash, lower pane: Glare
- W2Stair window, leadlight: Keep the look
Leadlight: we look at this pane on the measure. Film is not promised.
Two kinds of building in one postcode
North Sydney sits on a ridge above the harbour. The towers are on top, and the streets fall away toward Lavender Bay, Kirribilli and McMahons Point. The glass, the access and the questions change on the way down.
On the ridge
Around Miller Street, Walker Street and the Pacific Highway, and through St Leonards, most homes are units in towers, with offices on the floors beside them. The glass is big, it faces whichever way the building does, and there is often a tower opposite. Film here is mostly about the west sun, screens and privacy, and the building has rules about how trades get in.
Down by the water
Kirribilli and Lavender Bay are mostly flats too, but in smaller and older buildings. North Sydney Council describes Federation and inter-war houses there, inter-war flat buildings of two or three storeys, Victorian terraces and single-storey cottages. Many still have their timber windows. Rooms that face the water take glare off the harbour, and in a conservation area the front of the building matters to council.
| North Sydney | St Leonards | Kirribilli | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flats and apartments | 84.4% | 96.2% | 86.8% |
| Separate houses | 6.0% | 2.8% | 5.6% |
| Homes rented | 60.7% | 68.3% | 63.5% |
| Workers at home | 61.9% | 61.7% | 64.2% |
Source: ABS Census 2021 QuickStats for the suburbs of North Sydney, St Leonards and Kirribilli.
A tower job starts at the loading dock
In a tower, the glass is the easy part to reach. Getting to it means the building manager, the goods lift and a place to park a van, and in some buildings a sign-in at the desk. So those go on the schedule first, each on its own line, before the panes.
Tell us the building and the level when you book. We ask the building manager, or you do, how trades use the lift and the dock, and we plan the measure and the install around the answer.
In a tower, every sheet is fitted to the room side of the glass, working from inside the unit or the office. Nothing is fitted from outside the building.
More on units: heat and glare in a unit and privacy from the tower opposite.
What we ask about the building
- The lift. Whether the goods lift is booked ahead, and by whom.
- The dock. Its height clearance, and whether it runs to time slots.
- The desk. Whether trades sign in, and what paperwork the building wants.
- The glass. Laminated, toughened, double-glazed or tinted in the factory. The film is chosen to suit it.
- The aspect. Which way each room faces, and what is across the street.
If you rent, the owner comes first
More than half the homes in North Sydney were rented at the 2021 Census. In NSW a renter can make a change if the lease allows it or the landlord agrees in writing. The NSW Government's list of minor changes a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse includes shatter-resistant film on windows and glass doors. Heat and glare film is not on that list, so ask for written permission. Strata rules and heritage properties have their own exceptions.
The owner
Through the agent, in writing. Name the panes and the film, and say whether it stays when you move out or is taken off first.
The committee
In most towers the windows are common property, so the by-laws and the strata committee have a say about how the glass looks from outside.
The building manager
Lift, dock, sign-in and working times. This is logistics, not approval, and it is booked last.
What we give you to send
The panes by room, the 3M film chosen for each, what the street will see, and a note that it sits on the room side of the glass and can be removed.
Kirribilli, Lavender Bay and McMahons Point
Much of the harbourside below North Sydney is in heritage conservation areas. North Sydney Council says a conservation area listing focuses on the external envelope of buildings, and its development control plan names original windows and detail in these streets as part of their character.
Film changes less of that than most fixes. It goes on the inside of the pane you already have, it replaces nothing, and it can come off. For a front that faces the street or the water, low-reflective film is our starting point, because the windows keep their look from the footpath and the ferry. A mirror finish on a row of timber sashes changes the front more than any other film.
Whether film is allowed on a listed front is council's decision, never ours, and we will not say otherwise. If your building is heritage listed or sits in a conservation area, or you cannot tell, ask North Sydney Council before the front changes.
The access is the opposite of a tower's: stairs instead of a lift, and narrow streets with little room for a van. That goes on the schedule the same way.
| Kirribilli, windows and doors | “Consistent with building period and style. Timber.” |
|---|---|
| Kirribilli, out of character | Among others, “extensive glazing” and “loss of original detail” |
| Lavender Bay, materials | “Original timber windows doors and decorative joinery” |
| Lavender Bay, out of character | Among others, “removal of original detailing” and “modernised facades” |
North Sydney Development Control Plan 2025, Part F: Section 8.4, Kirribilli Conservation Area and Section 9.9, Lavender Bay Conservation Area.
Offices and practices on the ridge
The ABS counted 15,284 businesses in the North Sydney council area at June 2025, and professional, scientific and technical services was the largest group, with 4,165. That means floors of desks at the window, glass meeting rooms and consulting rooms.
An office goes on the schedule room by room, the building's rules sit on lines of their own, and no install date is set until you and the building manager have both agreed to it.
The same streets have some of the highest work-from-home shares on the North Shore, so a study nook in a unit gets the same attention as an office floor. Glare in the home study
Where tower and walk-up jobs go wrong
Film before the owner agrees
A renter pays for the install, then may be asked to pay again to have it taken off before handing back the keys.
Mirror sashes in Kirribilli
Reflective film on original timber windows changes how the building reads from the street and the water.
One film around a corner unit
The north glass and the west glass get different sun. One film on both leaves one side too hot or the other too dark.
A visit with no slot
The dock is taken, the goods lift is booked by someone else, and the install moves to another day.
St Leonards and North Sydney questions
Do you work in the towers along Miller Street and the Pacific Highway?
Yes, units and offices. We start with the building: who books the goods lift, how the dock works, and whether trades sign in. Then we measure the glass.
I rent my unit. Can I still have film put on?
With the owner's written permission, yes. Shatter-resistant film is on the NSW list of minor changes a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse, but heat and glare film is not, and a strata building can have its own rules as well. We can put the film details in writing for you to send to the agent.
Our flat in Kirribilli still has its timber windows. Can they take film?
Clear panes in timber sashes usually can, on the room side. Whether the front of a listed building, or one in a conservation area, should change is North Sydney Council's question to answer, so ask them. On those fronts we start from low-reflective film, and any leadlight is looked at in person.
Which council is St Leonards in?
St Leonards is split between North Sydney, Willoughby and Lane Cove councils, so it depends on which side of the suburb your building is. Your rates notice or the strata manager will say. It matters for heritage questions, not for the film itself.
Is one window worth a lift booking?
Yes. A single pane is a job we take. It is written up with the lift and the dock beside it, exactly as a whole floor would be.
Do you need to get onto the outside of the building?
No. All of the work happens inside your unit or office.
Near St Leonards and North Sydney
Also for units here: film in a North Shore apartment. For the harbourside fronts: privacy on the street side.
References
- ABS Census 2021 QuickStats, for dwelling type, renting and working from home in the suburbs of North Sydney, St Leonards and Kirribilli.
- Making changes to a rental property, NSW Government. When a renter needs the landlord's permission, and the minor changes a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse.
- Heritage property protection and regulations, North Sydney Council. How to find out whether a property is listed or in a conservation area.
- North Sydney Development Control Plan 2025, Part F, Section 8, Kirribilli Planning Area and Section 9, Lavender Bay Planning Area.