PLANNING STATEMENT
incorporating HERITAGE STATEMENT
regarding
proposed alterations
at
72 QUEENS GATE
LONDON, SW7 5JT
ACCOMPANYING
THE PLANNING APPLICATION
REVISED
September 2015
FAYETTE ASSOCIATES
24 Russell Road
London
W14 8HU
Tel: +44(0) 20 7602 3222
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
CONTENTS:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. SITE LOCATION PLAN
3. SURROUNDING AREA
4. PROPOSED EXTERNAL ALTERATIONS
5. PROPOSED INTERNAL ALTERATIONS
6. PLANNING STATEMENT
7. HERITAGE STATEMENT
8. THE CASE FOR AGGREGATION
9. MEASURED FLOOR AREAS
APPENDIX 'A'
SCHEDULE OF EXISTING & PROPOSED FLOOR AREAS
SCHEDULE OF (EXISTING & PROPOSED) PERIOD FEATURES
Page 2 of 9
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
1. INTRODUCTION:
This document has been prepared in support of our clients' planning application for the
proposed conversion, alterations and refurbishment of 72 Queen's Gate, London SW7
5JT. This building is one of several Listed buildings within a Victorian terrace on the west
side of Queen's Gate (from 68-87 consecutive numbers). It is in the 'Queens Gate
Conservation Area' and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. The RBKC Listing
Reference is: 46/15 47/15 and the English Heritage Reference is: 423189.
2. SITE LOCATION PLAN
Page 3 of 9
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
3. SURROUNDING AREA
Queen's Gate is a principle thoroughfare running north-south, from South Kensington to
Hyde Park. It crosses Old Brompton Road, Cromwell Road (A4) and finally Kensington
Gore in the north. The area is well served with shops and transportation, both bus and
underground links at Gloucester Road (400m) to the south-west and Kensington High
Street (500m) to the north west.
The architectural character in the immediate area is predominantly Victorian consisting of
five storey buildings fronting onto the main road and typically having mews houses behind
them. The 'grand' stature of these buildings is complemented well by the "High Victorian"
embellishments and detailing to the fully painted and stucco rendered facade. The rear
elevations of these buildings are predominantly finished in yellow London stock bricks.
4. PROPOSED EXTERNAL ALTERATIONS
The proposed alteration works affecting the exterior of the building are as follows:
Lower Ground Floor
Removal of the inverted bay window to the front area. This incongruous detail will be
reconstructed to match the original style of the adjacent buildings. To the rear of the
building in the light-well, it is proposed to replace the window with a pair of doors, giving
access to the area from Bedroom 2.
Ground Floor
Reduction in height and replacement of the windows looking over the rear patio to
accommodate the new levels of the inserted Mezzanine floor.
First to Second Floor
In the rear 'closet wing' an adjustment of the window levels and their vertical alignment, to
correspond with the new floor levels. All materials to be chosen to match the existing
brickwork and timber sashes.
Third Floor
Replacement of the existing conservatory with a new, similar timber framed double-glazed
conservatory.
Fifth Floor
Replacement of the existing roof at 4th floor with a new floor and flat roof with mansards
front and rear, incorporating traditional lead cheeked dormer windows and traditional
timber painted sashes.
5. PROPOSED INTERNAL ALTERATIONS
Structure & Partitions: the majority of the existing internal structural walls are to be
retained (see plans where these have been indicated). Proposed changes have been
discussed with the Planning and Conservation Officers during a Pre-Application site
meeting consultation and, as recommended in the subsequent report, the four square
layout of the upper rooms are to be maintained or reinstated.
Ground & First Floors: in the stately front rooms at the ground and first floors the
partitions added by earlier developers have been removed, returning these impressive
spaces to their former size/ volumes; this is in line with Council policy.
Period Style Doors, Architraves & Cornices: these will be either re-used/ renovated or
copied to enhance and complement all rooms. A schedule of the current state of these
details is included in this document: see Appendix 'A': Schedule of Period Features.
Page 4 of 9
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
Chimney Breasts and Chimney Pieces: the design opens up to view wherever possible
the boxed-in chimney breasts and, as indicated in the schedule in Appendix 'A', four of the
closed chimneys will be reinstated and fitted with new period chimney pieces; note that
some of the existing fireplaces are false, being boxed out with off-centre false breasts and
electric fires. The added chimney pieces are in the front rooms at Ground, First and
Second floors and the central room in the Lower Ground floor. See drawings No. 1572QG-201, 202 & 203 Survey drawings attached, with photographs and their locations.
Conservatory at Third Floor: this will be designed in light timber framing with double
glazing and will not exceed the line of the adjacent neighbour's building in accordance
with previous discussions with Planners and Conservationists.
Staircases: as discussed and agreed, the original main and secondary staircase that runs
through the centre of the building is to be preserved; this extends up to fourth floor. A new
matching straight flight staircase is to be added in order to gain access to the new fifth
floor and, at second floor, two new half level internal staircases are to be provided to
serve the intermediate Mezzanine floors in the rear closet wing. To gain access to the
rear Studio flat at lower ground floor, a new staircase is provided from the ground floor.
6. PLANNING STATEMENT
The subject property is a mid-terrace Victorian town house which has been previously
converted from a single dwelling house into nine self-contained residential units; these
are: 4 No. Studios to the rear, 4 No. flats and 1 No. maisonette (third and fourth floor
levels). The earlier conversion work involved the sub-division of principal rooms with
plasterboard and stud partitions and the unfortunate removal of many period features
including doors and frames, architraves, skirtings, fireplaces and cornices.
The property has an asphalted flat roof with the addition of a large lift machine room and
tall party wall chimney stacks. Both neighbouring properties have used these raised
stacks to enclose their mansard roofs. These buildings have generally preserved their
traditional painted timber double hung sash windows and French doors at 1st floor.
The rear light-well area is enclosed by brick boundary walls; the rear boundary is formed
by the back wall of No. 72 Stanhope Mews East. The front light-well area is enclosed by
stucco rendered boundary walls, with pavement edge kerbs and railings to the street
frontage. The Conservation issues are dealt with in the following section.
The proposal alterations require the re-alignment of windows in the rear closet wing to
agree with the new mezzanine levels, a new mansard roof with lead cheeked dormers and
the reinstatement of an inverted bay window and lower ground floor. All these items have
been the subject of previous Pre-application reports and there is no objection in principle
to these changes.
7. HERITAGE STATEMENT
As mentioned above, the subject property is a mid-terrace Victorian town house which has
been previously converted from a single dwelling house into nine self-contained
residential units; these are: 4 No. Studios to the rear, 4 No. flats and 1 No. maisonette
(third and fourth floor levels). The earlier conversion work involved the sub-division of
principal rooms with plasterboard and stud partitions and the unfortunate removal of many
period features including doors and frames, architraves, skirtings, fireplaces and cornices.
The following is an extract indicating the general architectural style:
Terrace of houses. Circa 1856-9; stucco facade; four (principal) storeys, with attic
and basement, each three windows wide. Channelled rustication to ground floor;
Page 5 of 9
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
Doric porches; balustrade to first floor balcony; windows corniced to first and second
floors; main cornice above third floor; railings to the area.
The building and the character of the local area is already well documented for its external
appearance and historical importance. An extract from historical records states: the
buildings are from circa 1863-1870. It is a mid-terrace property, probably by Thomas
Cundy III. The important external elements remain in-tact but within the building the
original historical details have suffered from insensitive renovation, subdivision and
dilapidation over the years: refer to the drawings and photographs in Appendix 'A' at the
end of this document. For example, there remain no original cornices within the flats;
many of the chimneys are blocked and the breasts obliterated by false plasterboard infills.
As described above, it is proposed, wherever practical, to copy from historical documents
and reinstate those elements of the building that have been damaged or removed.
The erection of a new mansard to the front of the building together with the new roof will
have minimal impact on the facade as these are set back from the parapets. The parapets
and friezes form a dominant and consistent feature, unifying the whole terrace, and both
neighbouring properties have constructed a mansard roof similar to the one proposed,
thus the inclusion of such a structure on this property will improve the unity of the overall
street elevation.
As noted in 5. above there have been discussions with the Planning and Conservation
Officers during a Pre-Application site meeting consultation and, as recommended, the four
square layout of the upper rooms are to be maintained or reinstated.
The Survey drawings and Schedule of Period Finishes in Appendix 'A' at the end of this
document should be referred to for the proposals for the period features: these include:
i) out of the sixteen chimney positions in the building four blocked or false chimneys will
be reinstated complete with new period chimney-pieces. Of the remaining twelve, three
working fireplaces will be retained (with new chimney-pieces) and nine blocked up
chimneys will remain unchanged): see the Survey drawings at the end of this document;
ii) selection of appropriate cornices for each of the levels, with due regard to historical
records where possible. Assistance from the Heritage England would be invaluable;
iii) similar to ii above, all the doors and non-original architraves will be replaced with new
to respect historical precedent.
iv) all skirtings have been photographed and scheduled in the 'Schedule of Period
Finishes' in Appendix 'A'. Some are damaged and some are simple torus details (service
areas and staff accommodation in the upper and lower levels); these would be replaced
with ogee or similar details appropriate to the room volume.
v) window shutters, paneling and moulded finishes are to remain as original, or renovated
in all cases, see Schedule of Period Finishes in Appendix 'A'.
8. CASE FOR AGGREGATION OF TWO OF THE FLATS
Follow-up Pre-application: During a Pre-Application meeting with the Planners it was
advised that there had been a recent change in Council policy concerning the aggregation
of flats. The number of flats in the existing building is currently nine, however, four of
these are very small studios with an area at or below what is recommended as the
minimum (37 m2 per dwelling) by the 'London Plan' (table 3.3). This policy document
also says that, 'any units that fall below this standard are of poor quality and may
be considered suitable for amalgamation'. This exception was mentioned at the time
of our Pre-application meeting on site.
Page 6 of 9
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
Table 1 below indicates the gross internal areas of each of the existing units and indicates
with highlighting, for clarity, the location of the four sub-standard studios.
APPENDIX 'A' EXISTING & PROPOSED FLOOR AREAS
TABLE 1: EXISTING
Sq. metres
Sq. feet
1
47.4
510.2
Studio
2
25.7
276.6
Ground Front
1 Bed Flat
3
52.5
565.1
Ground Rear +
Mezzanine
Studio
4
22.1
237.9
First Floor Front
1 Bed Flat
5
62.6
673.3
First Floor Rear +
Mezzanine
Studio
6
31.7
341.2
Second Floor Front
2 Bed Flat
7
64.4
693.2
Second Floor Rear
Studio
8
29.1
313.2
3rd & 4th floors
3 Bed Maisonette
9
151.6
1,631.8
Location
Type of Unit
No.
Sq. metres
Sq. feet
Lower Ground Front
1 Bed Flat
1
75.08
808
Lower Ground Rear
Studio
3
35.00
377
Ground Front
1 Bed Flat
2
70.29
757
First Floor & Mezz
2 Bed Maisonette
4
109.66
1,180
Second Floor
2 Bed Flat
5
95.44
1,027
Third Floor
1 Bed Flat
6
72.20
777
4th & 5th Floors
2 1/2 Bed Maisonette
7
111.50
1,200
Location
Type of Unit
No.
Lower Ground Front
1 Bed Flat
Lower Ground Rear
TABLE 2: PROPOSED
CORRECTED 25th Sept
Page 7 of 9
72 Q u e e n s G a t e LONDON SW7.
PLANNING AND HERITAGE STATEMENT
Page 8 of 9