76 Great Pulteney Street, Bathwick, Bath

76 Great Pulteney Street forms part of a Grade I series of late 18th century terraced houses at 66-77 Great Pulteney Street, situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. It forms part of the wider streetscape setting of multiple clusters of high significance Grade I terraced buildings along Great Pulteney Street to form a cohesive architectural whole which creates an intentional visual thoroughfare between Pulteney Bridge and the Holburne Museum as part of an unfinished mid-18th century aspirations to extend the city to the east of the River Avon. It is therefore a significant evidential aspect of Bath’s Georgian Town Planning OUV as a World Heritage Site. The frontage of Great Pulteney Street as a whole remains paramount in its aesthetic, architectural, and historic value; the architect Thomas Baldwin was responsible for the homogenous design of the façade, but the actual structures were built individually, resulting in different internal layouts and features along the terrace.

The building was recently granted CLEU for use as a single dwelling house, having previously been subdivided into three flats (see 22/02344/CLPU). This application similarly proposes “the return of the building to a dwelling following its informal use as bed-sits”. However, we note that this application proposes the creation of separate lounge and dining spaces at lower ground level. Whilst the provision of kitchen facilities appears to be limited to the rear reception room at ground floor level, we question whether this could open the possibility of the lower ground floor functioning as a self-contained flat separate from the rest of the dwelling. We maintain a preference for the building to be retained as a single dwelling, having been recently reintegrated. A large number of townhouses along Great Pulteney Street have been subdivided into apartment and maisonette use, making those townhouses occupied in their entirety increasingly rare. Should subdivision at lower ground floor level be proposed, we maintain that this should be appropriately assessed with regards to possible impact to historic plan form and associated internal fabric.

We note that the application also proposes “existing windows and doors to be repaired or replaced where necessary” without further elaboration as to the condition or location of areas of possible joinery repair/replacement. We maintain further information is required, particularly sections of proposed replacement windows, to ensure alterations are coherent with the appearance and character of the listed building and its wider historic context. As existing, we maintain that there is insufficient information regarding this aspect of the scheme, disproportionate to the building’s Grade I significance.