14 New Bond Street, City Centre

14 New Bond Street forms part of a Grade II late Georgian terrace with ground floor shops within the core of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. The Trust therefore encourages the use of sensitive, traditional shop front materials and colours that complement the existing palette of Bath stone ashlar and natural slate whilst remaining suitably recessive to prevent from over-dominating the façade of a listed building.

Therefore, the Trust is supportive of the proposed colour for the shop front, which will be of a suitably discrete and neutral appearance. However, we do oppose the proposed use of a gloss finish; we maintain that shopfronts should be matte to prevent an overly reflective or bright appearance that might retract from the appearance of a listed building or the wider harmonious, traditional aesthetic qualities of the conservation area.

We do not feel it appropriate to consider existing examples of gloss-finished shopfronts as precedents for a similar finish, and we would instead emphasise this application to be an opportunity to fully and positively implement traditional characteristics of Bath’s commercial streetscape to preserve and enhance the appearance of the conservation area, and complement the architectural interest of a Grade II listed building.