A trio of successful planning applications to Listed Houses
Achieving planning permission for listed buildings is a complicated process which needs careful consideration over and above the design process. It requires extensive work to compile all the relevant information to submit a valid planning application. There are also the conservation and historic research issues to factor in when working on Listed Buildings. If a Listed Building is located within the beautiful South Downs National Park this requires a further layer of documentation.
Over the last twelve months we have achieved 100% success rate in all our planning applications for listed buildings. Three of these recent projects are outlined below with a brief overview of each scheme and what we achieved.
Historic Listed Victorian Country House
Ground Floor Plan remodelling
Our client purchased the principal section of a large, Grade II Listed, Victorian country house in West Sussex. The house is a very fine landmark on the northern slope of a South Downs valley. The valley and its surrounding hills have been officially designated as being an area of ‘outstanding natural beauty’. The central section of the house includes a steep roofed tower as well as intricate panelling and parquet flooring internally. Our brief was to secure Listed Building Consent to allow for internal refurbishment and upgrading which involved remodelling the space by altering internal partitions, changing layout and flow, refitting bathrooms and installing a new kitchen. There was also a requirement to completely upgrade the heating and hot water supply using a new ground source heat pump installation, to provide a sustainable heating solution. We worked with http://www.nichollsboreholes.co.uk. This upgrade to heating allowed for a new underfloor heating installation throughout the historic listed flooring, this enabled the removal of the existing unsightly 1970s radiators. This allows the interior to revert to its historical look and feel.
The scheme allowed our client to bring the home more in line with contemporary living standards.
Farmhouse, Wisborough Green
Farmhouse, Wisborough Green, new elements in red
Here JWA was commissioned to design a replacement extension to the north-west block of a Grade II listed farmhouse including an erection of an oak framed porch. The main house dates back to the 17th century. In addition to the main house a separate single storey annexe provides further accommodation for guests.
The enlarged replacement extension will be finished with matching bricks and stonework, Crittall type steel windows with leaded lights with timber subframe and timber lintels, for the roof tiles will be laid to match existing. A new ground source heat pump installation will provide an underfloor heating solution to the new extension accommodation and certain parts of the historic farmhouse, so providing a sustainable heating solution for the 21st Century.
The annexe will be finished with new featheredge boarding, Crittall steel windows and sedum roof over current flat roof. Here the client will enjoy a 12% area increase not to mention better insulation and a more up to date building standards.
With both the above projects we have worked closely with Nicholls Countryside Construction https://www.nichollsltd.com to realise the upgrade of these historic buildings.
Link Building, Surrey Weald
Our client purchased a Grade II Listed Cottage with a Grade II Listed Barn. To create a larger more workable family home, JWA designed a link building to connect the two Listed Buildings. Planning and Listed Building Consent was granted for a new glazed gallery link to join the two historic buildings.
Contemporary link building for Listed Cottage and Barn
The transparent simplicity of the contemporary link was a deliberate contrast to the historic patina of the two listed buildings. This architectural solution creates a new entrance for the combined development and allows more spacious living accommodation in the barn along with a guest bedroom on a new mezzanine floor. This means the historic cottage now provides five bedrooms for family use.
The site is situated in a leafy location in the Surrey Hills, resolves the cramped living accommodation in the cottage with spacious but underused storage-cum-workshop facilities in the barn. We are very pleased to be working with Holt Group https://holtgroup.co.uk with whom we have completed many successful projects in the past.
James comments, “Planning permission for listed buildings has become substantially more complex over my 30 year career in architectural design. In working with a Listed Building we need to be sensitive to the history of the property and its setting, whilst simultaneously creating a unique and elegant new home optimised for contemporary living.”
