• OUR MUSEUMS
Bath Preservation Trust
  • Home
  • Our Responses to Planning Applications
  • Larger Sites and Land Use
  • How We Can Help You
  • What’s On
  • Museums and Education
  • Get Involved & Donate
  • Archives & Library
  • Membership

Hidden Hearing Ltd, 18 St James’s Parade

Home Planning Applications Hidden Hearing Ltd, 18 St James’s Parade
`
Application Number
20/01464/AR
Application Date
23/04/2020
Closing Date
30/05/2020
Address
Hidden Hearing Ltd, 18 St James's Parade
Status
Object

Display of 1no non-illuminated projecting sign and 1no non-illuminated individually mounted letters.

Our Response

18 St James’s Parade forms part of a Grade II Georgian terrace of houses and shops situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage site. It features as part of a visually distinctive terrace through the consistent, albeit unusual, insertion of a Venetian window in the first floor of the street-facing elevation. St James’s Parade remains a prominent pedestrian and commercial route from Bath’s historic core through to the SouthGate shopping development.

First and foremost, as this application constitutes alterations to a listed building which “would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest”, we are surprised at the lack of an accompanying Listed Building Application. We would advise an LBA is submitted before this application progresses further.

We are unsupportive of the proposed hanging sign and bracket; we feel that the proposed bracket is awkward and clunky in appearance, and are unsure as to why the existing bracket requires replacement. We feel that the current bracket suitably fits with traditionally ornate, individualised examples found throughout Bath which contribute to the bespoke character of its shop fronts. Furthermore, we would additionally recommend the hanging sign itself should be timber with hand-lettered decoration to ensure a traditional, high quality appearance which will contribute to the distinctive commercial character of the conservation area.

The Trust further opposes the proposed shop front due to the application of inappropriate materials, and the potential harm to historic fabric caused by the individual mounting of acrylic lettering to the stone fascia. We maintain that the use of cheap, modern materials such as plastic will neither preserve nor enhance the special architectural or historic interest of a Grade II building, and has evidently not been tailored to the building’s specific material and aesthetic requirements. We would therefore recommend that this application is reconsidered to incorporate a more complementary design, possibly utilising a timber hand-painted fascia board in a neutral, matt finish. We would recommend against lettering which requires pin mounting to the stone, which would cause irreversible damage.

Therefore, this application is contrary to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 16 of the NPPF, and Policies B1, B4, BD1, CP6, D1, D2, D3, D9, D10, and HE1, and should be withdrawn or refused.

Shopfront & Signage

Contact Us

Bath Preservation Trust, No. 1 Royal Crescent, Bath, BA1 2LR. Registered in England No. 294789
01225 338727
conservation@bptrust.org.uk
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Tripadvisor

Sign up for our campaigning and events newsletter

* = required field

powered by MailChimp!

Our Museums

  • No.1 Royal Crescent
  • Museum Of Bath Architecture
  • Beckford’s Tower
  • Herschel Museum of Astronomy
© Bath Preservation Trust, 2018