3 Mount Beacon Row, Richmond Lane, Beacon Hill, Bath

3 Mount Beacon Row forms part of a stepped terrace of Grade II early 19th century houses situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. The terrace is made up of modest two-storey dwellings in Bath stone ashlar with projecting stone hoods on shaped brackets over the doors and double pitch clay tile roofs. A number of the terraced dwellings, including 3 Mount Beacon Row, have retained traditional-style timber sash windows of a 6-over-6 or 4-over-4 profile; several of the properties to the north have replaced their sash windows with inappropriate uPVC alternatives.

BPT originally offered comments on application 21/03605/LBA.

We note that it is now proposed to retain the two window openings at ground floor level, and to replace the existing “modern construction windows” with double glazed equivalents.

In light of the declared Climate Emergency, BPT is supportive of sensitive sustainability retrofits, where deemed appropriate, within the historic environment, as well as the sympathetic upgrade of traditional and listed housing stock to better meet modern standards of living.

As such, we therefore note a positive opportunity for the sensitive implementation of energy efficiency retrofits and thermal improvements where this does not result in harm or the loss of significant historic fabric.

The replacement of modern casement windows would NOT result in a loss of historic fabric and would have a negligible material impact on the special interest of the listed building.

We suggest that further clarification is provided regarding the type of double glazing to be installed – the use of a slim-profile double glazing (eg. 12-14mm thickness) is preferred where this would be more visually coherent with the existing windows in the rear façade and the overall composition of the listed building. We strongly recommend further details and sections are provided regarding the proposed design, appearance, and finish of the replacement windows to enable a fully-informed assessment of potential impact to the building.