Our client commissioned WS Heritage Ltd. to undertake this Heritage Impact Assessment addressing proposals for this central London property that related its proposed redevelopment.

The project included the replacement of existing curtain walling; the application of render to brick façades; the reorganization of ground floor level facing; a new access; the introduction of balconies; the introduction of windows; the replacement of existing windows with new double-glazed units; and, new brick walling and an access on Bywell Place. Proposals comprise the more general refurbishment of the existing building and follows on from previously permitted application.

The application site is neither statutorily nor locally designated, albeit it is located within the immediate setting of a Grade II listed building, which directly abuts the application site and was first designated in 1987.

The application site is located to the east of Marylebone, in the City of Westminster. The origin of Marylebone can be traced back to the ancient hamlet Tiburn, located to the east of the River Tyburn, and named after a small stream that flowed from a spring in Hampstead to the River Thames; ‘burn’ being derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘burna’, meaning small stream.

Originally a village, Marylebone was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a settlement in the hundred of Ossulstone and the county of Middlesex. It recorded a population of 8 households with 3 ploughlands when much of the area was covered with forest and marshland. The small village was located upon the junction formed by two Roman Roads that now comprise the present-day Oxford Street and Edgeware Road.

The beginning of the 18th century marked the initial urbanisation of Marylebone. By that time, to the south of the present day Oxford Street, various squares including Hanover Square, Soho Square, Golden Square, James’s Square, and Grosvenor Square had already been built. The Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, who married the Duke’s heiress, Lady Cavendish, decided to develop the estate of Cavendish Square, aiming to attract wealthy nobility to the area. The existing street names of the area are derived from these early residents and investors.

Throughout the 19th century, Marylebone underwent extensive redevelopment due to the extensive expiration of 99 year leases as well as a fundamental shift in needs and preferences. The majority of original Georgian buildings were demolished and redeveloped, reflecting a change in social status amongst the original occupants, where the wealthier were migrating to the new terraced houses of Bayswater and Kensington.

Given the building’s period of construction, modern, unsympathetic design and relatively poor condition, it is of no historic or architectural significance in its own right and may therefore be considered a negative impingement upon the setting of its immediate neighbour Grade II listed 34-38 Mortimer Street, whilst an equally negative contributor toward the character and appearance of the overriding East Marylebone Conservation Area.

The proposed scheme will not increase the existing structure in scale, height, or massing, but focus upon its façade, amenity, and internal layout. The special interest of both the adjacent Grade II listed building and the character and appearance of the conservation area will remain fundamentally preserved.