Track Record/Westminster

Planning Consent/Private Client/Residential/Westminster/ Third Time’s the Charm

“Don’t laugh – we are planning to move – again!” This is how we learned we would be renovating a third house in a row for our clients. This time they were downsizing and had selected a charming mews house in Belgravia on the Grosvenor Estate.

Westminster Council had helpfully indicated in the conservation area appraisal that we would be able to obtain consent for an extra mansard storey as all the adjacent houses had one and the effect was of a “missing tooth” in the mews. As is often the case these days we also asked for planning consent for air conditioning.

It is a great pleasure to work with clients again on repeat projects. We had already surveyed all of their furniture for example and were able to bring all the reference images out of our archive, and it was great knowing their taste and style so well.

The image shows a detail of a staircase newel post.

Project 210

Won/04.06.24

Planning Consent/Private Client/Residential/Westminster/ Tall Storeys

In the mid C19th, Thomas Cubitt, the most eminent builder London has ever produced, acquired the right to build on an unpromising patch of land near the river. On this marshy ground Cubitt built the small grid of streets that are the heart of Pimlico. The houses were not as grand as his developments in Belgravia, but are tall solid practical houses, that are still popular and adaptable nearly 200 years later.

In Pimlico he built wharves and workshops, barges to transport
materials, invented machinery for forming bricks, and had sections within his workshops for carpentry, joinery, iron casting and brick manufacture. Most of the components of his houses were fabricated off site in these workshops, which allowed for greater quality control and greater safety on site, particularly from fire.

HEAT was delighted to have the chance to refurbish another of these first-class houses. We gained planning consent to infil on the ground floor and open up the interior to bring in more light, and to add a floor onto the rear extension to provide an additional family bathroom. The interiors were taken back to the plaster and re-constructed with traditional finishes, panelling and modern services. It is wonderful to follow in the footsteps of London’s Master Builder.

Project 203

Won/10.01.24

Listed Building/Private Client/Residential/Westminster/ Grade II* Thomas Cubitt House

HEAT have been appointed to lead the restoration and refurbishment of a Grade II* listed house in the first division of Eaton Place. Thomas Cubitt began work on the Belgravia Estate in the 1820’s and the first houses were sold to his banking contacts. Cubitt sometimes used the houses as his offices until they were sold and – ever the canny marketing man – the unbuilt plots of land were neatly finished with gravel and picket fences; the streets had York stone paving and street lighting, so that, when you bought your new house, you weren’t living next to a building site. At HEAT we are preparing the planning pre-application; restoring missing interior features and correcting unconsented alterations as well as re-constructing the rear extension in painted timber and glass with detailing and proportions taken from the original house.

Project 181

Won/01.09.16

Listed Building/Westminster/ Little Venice House

HEAT have obtained Listed Building Consent from the City of Westminster for the restoration and remodelling of this beautiful Italianate house in Little Venice, removing an unsympathetic 1980’s conversion and restoring details like cornices, skirtings and architraves to give the rooms back a sense of scale. The floors will be single plank oak boards with a subtle texture and the period fireplaces and cantilevered Portland stone stairs will be restored.

Project 176

Won/06.08.15

Developer/Listed Building/Westminster/ New Flat in Harley Street

The basements of the C18th Houses in Harley Street are nearly all used for Doctor’s consulting rooms, and when the lease expired on this particularly tired one, our clients decided to return it to residential use. HEAT obtained planning and listed building consent for a straightforward scheme, that, nevertheless required several measures against damp including tanking throughout, ventilation to all the rooms with heat reclamation and a new concrete slab with underfloor heating. In the end the basement and ground floor provided two dry and pleasant two bedroom flats for rental investment.

Project 152

Won/25.02.14

Listed Building/Westminster/ Listed Interior in Belgravia

HEAT have successfully negotiated permission from Westminster Council for the complete restoration of a Grade II listed interior by Thomas Cubitt. Eaton Place was constructed in “divisions” between 1828 and 1850 and the interior of this beautiful stucco-fronted townhouse had been gutted in successive redevelopments in the 1980’s. There was little original documentation – we found the original plans and layouts in a French architectural magazine of 1855 and some interior photographs recording wartime damage. Through research we were able to track down the original moulds for the decorative plasterwork and we are recreating the original joinery; window shutters, doors, skirtings and architraves.

The floors will be relaid in solid oak boards spanning the length of the room and fixed directly to the joists to provide a feeling of authenticity and permanence.  A new staircase is required and since this is a modern element, without historical precedent, it will be expressed as a modern feature with an elegant helical design that harmonises with the interior.

Stunning modernist furnishings and artworks, sourced by designer Michael Lewis will complete the interior space.

Project 168

Won/29.01.14

Westminster/ Pimlico Planning Win

Pimlico, in the City of Westminster is an area of attractive mid-Victorian terraced houses which retain their original regular urban plan. HEAT have won a valuable planning consent for a mansard roof extension and a two storey infill extension at the rear.

Two solar panels are to be fitted to the roof to enhance the sustainability of the project and a number of external enhancements were proposed as part of the application, such as restoring missing balustrading to the front elevation. The planning authority judged that these enhancements will make a positive contribution to the Pimlico Conservation Area.

The dramatic interiors are designed to display the owners’ collection of Art Deco furniture and lighting

Project 167

Won/21.09.13

Listed Building/Westminster/ Knightsbridge Planning Success

We had an opportunity to carry out in depth research on the history of this beautiful late Regency house in Knightsbridge, which whilst being listed Grade II, was a blank canvas internally following unsympathetic conversions in the 1980’s.

Together with Dr Chris Miele of Montagu Evans we prepared an authoritative documentation of the story of the house and its occupants which gave us the confidence to propose an audacious restoration of the original plasterwork, joinery and detailing and new additions including a new floor at roof level, an exquisitely detailed glass extension at the rear and a new basement under the front garden.

Project 156

Won/09.07.13

Westminster/ Marylebone Mews

In an elegant mews near Marylebone High Street HEAT have obtained planning consent to create a spacious basement and remodel the house completely creating a new kitchen and family room in the double height basement with five bedrooms upstairs all with en-suite bathrooms. At the top a new roof terrace was permitted. Outdoor amenity space is at a premium in this kind of property so this was a valuable addition to the scheme. Fitted furniture and interiors have been designed in detail to maximise the available space internally.

Project 110

Won/02.07.10

Education/Westminster/ Oxford House College

Oxford House College is a language school based in central London. HEAT carried out the refurbishment of their new four storey premises including creating Classrooms, a library, Common Room, Staff Room and cafeteria together with signage and branding. The design successfully used existing elements of the Edwardian interiors and created fresh and creative interior spaces for learning.

Project 117

Won/03.08.08

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