13 Coronation Avenue, Southdown, Bath

13 Coronation Avenue forms part of an unlisted early 20th century Edwardian terrace within the World Heritage Site and the indicative townscape setting of the Bath City-Wide Conservation Area. The segment of terrace at Nos. 1-38 forms part of the wider character of the streetscape where the entirety of terraced dwellings along Coronation Avenue appear to have been constructed at approximately the same time and in a coherent architectural style and finish. The proposed focus of development is across the rear elevation, which in this location is of somewhat increased visual sensitivity due to the terrace’s position against the western edge of the Monksdale Road Allotment. The tops of the roofs across the terrace rear are marginally visible from further east on Monksdale Road when looking across the allotment. Public views of the conservation area townscape from the allotments can be positively experienced along the public footpath. This section of terrace is somewhat unusual where the rear roofscape and characteristic pitched roof form has been retained without the later addition of dormer windows. There are several examples of the insertion of rooflights flush with the roof slope, indicative of the later residential conversion of the internal roof space, but these additions are visually innocuous.

The proposed addition of a dormer in this location would therefore result in the addition of a large incongruous form, and increased bulk and massing of the roof profile, as visible from the adjacent allotments. The addition of a dormer would constitute the introduction of this type of building alteration along this stretch of terrace which otherwise remains visually congruous in traditional character and appearance, and would result in the visual unbalancing of the terrace’s unified roofscape. Where there are existing examples of loft conversions along the terrace that have not required the insertion of dormer windows (eg. Nos. 1, 3, 15, 27), we question whether this could not also be achieved at No 13, where the addition of conservation roof lights would be a more recessive addition whilst sustaining the continued flow of the roofline across the terrace.