35 Walcot Street, City Centre

35 Walcot Street is a Grade II late 19th century terraced building, situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. It forms part of the wider streetscape context of a high concentration of Grade II terraced buildings to the north and south, including the adjacent Grade II Cornmarket building. It is located within Bath’s ‘Artisan Quarter’, a commercial high street of local and independent businesses that strongly contribute to the distinctive streetscape appearance and character of this area of the conservation area, and is suggested to be one of Bath’s oldest commercial streets.

We are supportive of the proposed works for the redecoration of the existing timber shopfront as part of the occupation of the ground floor premises. In the absence of a specified paint finish, we consider a matte or eggshell finish to be preferable to gloss to avoid an overly reflective or shiny appearance.

As proposed, it does not appear that there would be any signage or advertising applied to the existing fascia. Should there be any intention for the redecoration/application of signage to the fascia, this should be reflected in the current proposals.

The D&A/Heritage Statement indicates the use of advertising blinds in the shop windows, as shown in existing photographs of the building. It is unclear as to whether these would be retained as part of proposals or whether this is an interim measure as the unit is being fitted out ahead of opening. BPT is generally opposed to window advertising which ‘deadens’ the facade, for example a totally blanked out window. We therefore recommend that this aspect of the scheme is clarified; where these would be retained as part of proposals, we strongly recommend that these blinds are only closed outside of opening hours to limit the deadening effect on the streetscape.