19 Great Stanhope Street, Kingsmead

19 Great Stanhope Street forms part of a Grade II Georgian terrace within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. It utilises a traditional material palette of Bath stone ashlar with the retention of some natural slate tiles to the outer slope of the mansard roof.

BPT is supportive of the proposed roof works. We feel that the replacement of the asbestos cement tiles within the inner slopes of the mansard roof with natural slate equivalents will beneficially restore the building’s vernacular character and material integrity. We appreciate the need for the replacement of existing slates as part of the remedial works to ensure the roofscape remains in good health. We would recommend that the existing condition of the roof is recorded prior to works commencing, and the location of any retained historic slates noted for reference in future maintenance works.

The Trust is wholly supportive of the use of a thermal solar collector for the supply of carbon neutral heating in light of the declared Climate Emergency. We would like to emphasise our interest in the potential for this approach and application to become a template, where deemed appropriate, for the sustainable retrofit of Bath’s historic housing stock. Therefore, we feel that if performance data could be collated from the thermal collector to evidence improvements in efficiency, it could be used as a best practice example that would help further future retrofits to buildings of historic significance within Bath.

However, we are somewhat concerned that the proposed bird netting is not mentioned at all in the D&A Statement with regards to potential visual impact, and further information should be provided. From the proposed indicative section supplied, we would recommend that the netting sits below the roof ridges to minimise any potential visibility.