The Whisky Shop, 9 – 10 High Street, City Centre, Bath

9-10 High Street forms a terraced pair of Grade II late 19th century buildings with accommodation over shop units at ground floor level, situated within the commercial core of the Bath City-Wide Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. No. 10 occupies a prominent, curved position on the corner of the terrace between High Street and Cheap Street with a distinctive first floor treatment in the form of a single bay window with a keyed head and drip moulding surround, an unusual and eclectic fenestration style that leads across into No. 9. The ground floor shopfront is indicated to be original to the building’s 19th century design and construction, a point reinforced by the use of a homogenous design across Nos. 9 & 10. The frontage of No. 10 is comprised of a centralised, recessed access with single pane shop windows, and multi-pane fanlights at stall riser level, which have since been painted over. The glazed multi-pane fanlights are in a matching style to the stall riser and are currently infilled with an obscured glazing. It appears that the fanlights at No. 9 have since been painted over, and later additions such as ventilation grilles have been added to the detriment of the original design.

The removal of 16x panes of glazing from the stall riser would affect the character and appearance of the existing shopfront, but the degree of impact is unclear where it is unspecified as to whether works would result in loss of historic fabric. Where the existing stall riser appears to complement the historic design and form of the shopfront, photographic evidence (see Bath in Time) appears to indicate the presence of a solid stall riser of increased height in place of the glazed panes in 1975. There is a possibility that the existing glazing was either over-clad, or possibly a later post-1970s addition. Where the special interest of the building encompasses its wholescale design, including the ground floor shop unit and shopfront, there is a presumption to retain historic fabric and detailing where this constitutes an intrinsic aspect of the building’s interest and significance. We therefore recommend further information is provided relating to the glazed stall riser; where it can be demonstrated that the glazing was replaced at a later date, removal of lesser-significance fabric may contribute towards justification of the proposed works.

Where the application has highlighted a need for ventilation louvres and indicated that “for technical reasons, the venting cannot be positioned in any other area”, it is recognised that the proposed means of installation is more visually recessive than other examples, such as at No. 9. We recommend further details are provided of the proposed louvres, such as close-up detailed sections, as well as samples of the proposed colour and finish to ensure as seamless an integration as possible with the existing shopfront.