3 Upper Church Street, City Centre, Bath

3 Upper Church Street forms one half of a pair of Grade II late 18th century terraced dwellings situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. It forms part of the grouped setting of a number of Grade II and Grade II* late 18th century terraced dwellings along Upper Church Street towards Catharine Place. The street positively contributes to the townscape setting of the Grade I late 18th century Royal Crescent as well as functioning as part of the ‘infill’ transition between other monumental set pieces to the north of the city such as the Grade I Circus and the Grade I St James’s Square.

Whilst we maintain a preference for the use of sash windows as a more traditional window form in keeping with the Georgian age and articulation of the property, we note that the constrained scale of the window openings in the lightwell elevation, proposed for replacement, are fairly small and therefore likely inadequate for sash windows of suitable proportions. In this instance, the use of appropriately detailed timber casement windows is acceptable.

Considering their relatively low visibility from street level due to their orientation ‘underneath’ the pavement, this could be a positive opportunity for the implementation of slimlite double glazing with no loss of historic fabric and limited impact to the appearance of a listed building. This would remain dependent on the proposed glazing thickness and further details as to window profile and glazing bar thickness to ensure an appropriate appearance and finish.

We suggest further details such as the means of fixing the proposed glazed screen would better clarify the material impact of the scheme. It is recommended that fixings are limited to mortar joints to restrict the irreversible loss of historic stonework. It is preferable that the glazed screen is recessed back into the opening rather than sitting flush with the external stone finish.

Further details are welcomed as to how the section of floor in the proposed porch area would be elevated as well as additional material specifications.

The photo montages indicate that the current painted surfaces are in relatively poor condition with some bubbling and blistering, as well as areas of damp and associated vegetative growth. We appreciate that this is not part of the current application up for consideration, but note that future works for paint removal may be beneficial for the performance of historic fabric as well as improving the general appearance of the building and wider terrace.