Internal reconfiguration of a Grade II listed stucco villa flat, Belsize Park

The flat occupies the raised ground floor of a mid-nineteenth-century Grade II listed Italianate villa in Belsize Park. When the house was subdivided in the late twentieth century, lightweight stud partitions had been inserted across the rear drawing room, cutting cleanly into the original plaster cornice and blocking one of the tall shuttered sash windows.

We began with a detailed fabric investigation and measured survey of the surviving historic joinery, skirting profiles and ceiling plasterwork. Working alongside our heritage statement, the proposal removed the non-original studwork to restore the full width and twin-window symmetry of the rear room, while tucking a new bespoke joinery kitchen into the secondary service zone already altered during the 1970s conversion.

Where services had to cross the flat, pipework and extract ductwork were routed through existing notched floor zones and an existing rear lightwell grille so no new penetrations were cut through the principal stucco elevations or primary timber joists. New acoustic and fire-compartmentation layers were detailed to meet Building Regulations Part B and Part E without obscuring historic cornices.

Camden granted Listed Building Consent with conditions covering lime plaster making-good and joinery sample profiles, and the freeholder surveyor approved the parallel Licence to Alter package on the first formal review.