33 Corn Street, City Centre, Bath
33-34 Corn Street are a pair of unlisted buildings, likely to date to the mid- to late-19th century, situated within the historic centre of the Bath Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. Based on historic topographical evidence, the buildings appear to have originally formed part of the late 19th century terraced streetscape along Corn Street, although this has been substantially altered by areas of later demolition that appeared through the later 20th century, and have left a number of gaps in the street façade which have since been used as open-air car parking. Based on the reduced scale and industrial-style typology of the buildings, such as the use of a sawtooth roof, it is apparent that the buildings along Corn Street would have been used as outbuildings or coach houses in association with the Grade II terrace along St James's Parade. Nos. 33-34 remains fairly modest in appearance with a balanced façade of two 6-pane sash windows at ground floor, and a tripartite group of sash windows at first floor replicated evenly across each building façade. Both buildings are indicated to currently be in residential use.
The existing windows are indicated to be in a poor, deteriorating condition, and as such replacement in an appropriately matching style and profile is considered appropriate. The existing
sash windows across the principal street-facing façade would be replaced with timber multi-pane equivalents with through glazing bars of a matching ovolo profile, and as such would sustain the building's appearance and character.
When considering the proposed replacement of existing windows within an unlisted building, BPT recognises that there is an opportunity to implement thermal upgrades as part of the works in response to the Climate Emergency, such as the installation of slimlite double glazed sash windows. Where considered as part of a 'whole house' approach, which includes reducing energy use and loss through behaviour change and insulation, this would have the added benefits of limiting heat loss from the building and ensuring a more comfortable internal climate for residents, as well as reducing heating costs which is particularly prevalent for Julian House's vulnerable residents at a time of cost-of-living crisis. Retrofit would more broadly contribute towards B&NES net zero objectives across the city centre and the wider district.
BPT maintains that the suitability of this measure would remain dependent on the proposed appearance and profile of the windows and would require submission of revised drawings and
sections for consideration. We would be very interested in working with the applicant to further explore opportunities for retrofit and thermal improvements as part of these proposals.