46 Sydney Buildings, Bath

46 Sydney Buildings forms part of a pair of Grade II semi-detached early 19th century dwellings situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site, overlooking the boundary of the Bath and Bristol Green Belt and the Cotswolds AONB. It forms a streetscape of semi-detached pairs of Grade II dwellings following the road to the south, with some ‘glimpses’ of wider landscape views out to the west to the Georgian city. The building is designed as a balanced, symmetrical pair with its neighbour centrally divided by blind windows on the ground and first floors; this is an architectural device utilised across the front and rear elevations. There is some limited visibility of the southern side elevation from the pavement. The existing side extension is believed to be water closet dating to the late 19th century or later; however, the lower ground floor section could be contemporary to the original construction date of the building. This lower ground floor section would be retained as part of proposals.

The Trust previously commented in response to refused applications 20/00889/LBA & 20/00888/FUL. We did not originally oppose the principle of a new side extension, but we continue to maintain that any such extension should be complementary and recessive in its design and use of materials, with suitable justification provided regarding any possible loss of historic fabric or aesthetics.

We feel the reduced height of the extension is an improvement on the previous refused scheme, and we acknowledge that the extension. It would sit below the first floor sill band and is set back from the principal frontage of the building. Its semi-detached appearance and separation from 47-48 Sydney Buildings would be retained.

The use of slate cladding could be considered an appropriate material choice within this location, and considering the early 20th century use of the extension as a water closet, as this has often been used for cladding hanging loos or outshot toilets, and extensions.

From the existing and proposed rear elevations, it appears that the ground floor window of a variable sash design would be replaced with a more typical Georgian fenestration style six-over-six sash window, although this does not appear to be detailed in the D&A Statement. We recommend that further design details are submitted here to ensure this is a like-for-like profile.