Our Planning and Development team have secured planning permission and listed building consent for change of use to student accommodation, including rear extension of three floors to provide a total of 20 student rooms including ensuites and shared kitchen and laundry facilities. The building is located on Bridge Street within Northampton Town Centre, and forms part of the All Saints Conservation Area; the building itself being a Grade II listed heritage asset.
The heritage asset had fallen into a state of disrepair having lain vacant for over a decade following its closure having last operated as a snooker and pool hall. Intervention was required to bring the building back into meaningful use. Internally the building exhibited many instances of historic alterations, with subdividing walls formed, removed or altered. During the period of the building being redundant the property had been broken into several times over the years and in the summer of 2024. Intruders had further vandalised the property removing copper piping, cabling, lead from the flat roof which caused an extensive amount of damage to walls, ceilings, stairs (handrail and spindles) leaving a building requiring full intervention.
Conservation officers had concerns over a high degree of harm due to the loss of the essential plan of the building and the entire rear of the building being obscured, although not removed. The setting of the original building was also argued to be negatively impacted. The conservation officer also claimed there was nothing in the application which demonstrates a significant conservation benefit to weigh against the harm.
Working closely with the Council we were able to evolve the applicants design proposal following a site visit with conservation officer and the planning officer handling the application. Subsequently the conservation team considered that whilst the extension would be dominating it was considered that it was not overly prominent in appearance and would not be out of place in the context of the host building. In terms of the design, the Council accepted that the proposal would be not out of keeping with the host building and heritage assets, and given the proposal would be located to the rear it therefore would not be more overly prominent along Bridge Street and the heart of the Conservation Area. The proposed glazed link creating a visual link between the existing and proposed and the roof top accommodation takes its cue from other nearby buildings in the site vicinity. The proposal was found to result in less than substantial harm in heritage terms, whilst the public benefits resulted in bringing the building back into use. The planning application and listed building consent application were consequently approved under delegated powers.
Should you have a town centre building, or a heritage asset, that you would like to redevelop please do not hesitate to contact Andrew Gray on 07590 880057 or by email: andrew.gray@argroup.co.uk