26 The Circus, City Centre

26 The Circus forms part of a Grade I Georgian circular terrace designed by John Wood the Younger, situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. It forms one of the most significant demonstrations of monumental Georgian architectural design and town planning within Bath, and consequently strongly contributes to the OUV of the World Heritage site.

This discharge of conditions is associated with consented application 20/00864/LBA, but details changes covered within ongoing application 20/01616/LBA with regards to proposed external changes. We will therefore be referring to relevant documentation provided in application 20/01616/LBA as part of our response.

In accordance with conservation principles the Trust encourages and favours the use of traditional materials, methods and craftsmanship applied to the maintenance and repair of historic listed buildings. We therefore resist the proposed insertion of an aluminium-framed double-glazed vault light in the principal elevation of a Grade I listed building.

The approach and use of distinctly contemporary materials, rather than traditional timber frame, on this main elevation is harmful to the collective historic, architectural and aesthetic interest of the grade I listed building(s), and will establish an appropriate precedent for similar alterations within an architecturally and historically sensitive centrepiece of Georgian design. The proposed right-angled articulation of the windows is awkward and does not accord with the traditional detailing of the terraces’ façade, with the proposed double-glazed floor window ‘eating’ into the paved courtyard.

Furthermore, we not that the Existing Front Elevation (see 20/01616/LBA) outlines only one basement-level ‘light-shaft’, which we assume to be the only ‘partially opened’ shaft out of three detailed within the Heritage Assessment (see 20/01616/LBA). We would recommend that further documentation of these blocked-up shafts are provided to better evidence their position and consequently justify the principle of window insertion in this location.

This aspect of the proposal will harm the collective significance of the Grade I terrace and detract from character and appearance of the conservation area and the collective contribution to the Georgian architecture and town planning OUV of the World Heritage site due to its inappropriate use of form and materials. It would establish an undesirable precedent for similar work across the terrace at the detriment to the group value of the Circus.

This application is therefore contrary to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, Section 16 of the NPPF, and Policies B4, BD1, D1, D2, D3, D5, and HE1 of the Core Strategy and Placemaking Plan, and the proposed design of the light shaft glazing inserts should either be reconsidered or removed from the scheme.