Americans are fascinated and terrified by the U.K.’s “cheese grater windows”
A certain apartment feature in the U.K. dubbed "cheese grater windows" has captured American TikTok's morbid fascination. The windows, covered by thin doors that open inward, have split opinions across the platforms.
Those with a fear of heights have particularly strong feelings about this one.
What are cheese grater windows?
After TikTok user @jessbelllll posted a view of her high-rise apartment in Manchester, England, on May 31, 2025, U.S. commenters started asking about the weird doors in the middle of her windows. At first glance, they look like doorways to nothing, and some imagined that they might be fire escapes. However, there's nothing outside of them, and she lives on a high floor.
@jessbelllll how are people seriously thinking these doors just go out into nothing ???? #cheesegraterwindows #manchesterapartmentblock #manchesterlife #pinteresthome #cheesegraterwindow #highrisemanchester ♬ suono originale - BRAINROT-77
The next day, Jessie Bell showed her followers that the doors cover a patterned metal grate designed to safely allow fresh air into the space. U.K. residents call these "cheese grater windows." Cheese graters must look different over there.
The TikToker told Newsweek that every apartment in the building features these windows, and they did not deter her from renting one.
"I love the look of them and they actually let loads of light in and cool the flat down quickly," she said.
The only downside is that "sometimes, if they're both open at once, it can cause a vortex." If only Newsweek had asked her what the heck that means.
Regardless of the one flaw, Bell continued to sing praises for her cheese grater windows, even demonstrating to nervous followers that they're safe by pushing against them with her back.
@jessbelllll Replying to @Mollie and Matcha ???? don’t fall too hard on it ???? #cheesegraterwindow #cheesegraterdoor #manchesterapartment #manchesterlife #apartmentblockmanchester ♬ Calm background music with acoustic guitar and saxophone(1288148) - ame
"I'm pushing with all of my weight right now. This is not scary," she claims. "It's not gonna break at all. It's super, super strong metal."
She even lets herself fall backward into it, surely panicking some viewers. She survived. In another video, she demonstrates that it keeps the rain out even during a downpour.
"Stop it right now"
While many commenters adored the idea of cheese grater windows, some are begging Bell to stop testing them out. The building owners would have taken measures to try and ensure that all windows in a high-rise apartment are safe to avoid lawsuits, of course, but there are no guarantees in this world.
At the very least, they'd like her to test them in a more cautious manner than by falling backwards against the metal.
@gits_and_shiggles80 #stitch with @jess bell making my blood pressure SKY HIGH! #cheesegraterwindow #cheesegraterdoor #higheise #highrisewindows ♬ Calm background music with acoustic guitar and saxophone(1288148) - ame
"First of all, stop," said @gits_and_shiggles80. "Stop it right now. Second of all, you don't have anything to prove to us, okay? Thirdly, I want to say, if you are going to make a stupid choice, at least be smart about it."
Meanwhile, user @ppooi82 told a story about a Canadian man named Gary who bragged about the "unbreakable" windows in his office and would run and slam into them at full force to demonstrate. He did this repeatedly against one window in particular until it finally broke and he fell to his death.
We checked, and the story is real. There's even a Wikipedia entry on it. Don't test fate, dear readers.
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