Hanover Court, Salisbury Road, Larkhall

Hanover Court is an unlisted residential block within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. Adjacent to streets of concentrated historic interest such as St Saviour’s Road, development at Hanover Court needs to be considered with regards to the architectural and historic merit of its context.

BPT strongly objects to this replacement of timber window frames with white uPVC equivalents. This area has a strong tradition of timber sash windows; whilst Hanover Court’s windows are of a non-historic origin, their use of material retains a consistency with the demonstrated local vernacular with which replacement with uPVC will impair. Additionally, Hanover Court is a building of highly significant massing and scale that is clearly visible from Salisbury Road and Worcester Park; therefore, these areas will be visually impacted by the loss of timber-framed windows. Due to its exposed position, it is highly likely that Hanover Court will be visible from the rear of the Grade II Victorian terrace 1-6 Lambridge Buildings and therefore degrade views of the historic landscape.

In assessing this application, the Trust has seen no adequate justification for the use of uPVC in favour of a like-for-like timber replacement, or evidence that any alternatives have been considered. Therefore, we oppose this application on the basis that the building’s visual and architectural relationship with its contextual surroundings has not been fully understood; we ultimately assert that the scale of the building combined with the scale of replacement would strengthen a negative precedent within Bath’s World Heritage site and conservation area.

Furthermore, the current and proposed glazing types are not mentioned within this application; for the sake of clarity, we recommend that these details be provided before the application progresses.

For these reasons, this application is contrary to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Area) Act 1990, Section 16 of the NPPF, and Core Strategy and Placemaking Plan Policies B1, B4, BD1, CP6, D1-D5, and HE1, and should be refused.