In 2019 we were appointed by HWCD as Holland Park conservation architect consultation to provide architectural, planning and conservation area specialist services for the extensive extensions and complete renovation works to a single family detached dwelling at 23 Holland Villas Road, London, W14 8DH.

The property is in the Holland Park Conservation Area and in 2001 it had been extended and renovated by Fiona McLean, McLean Quinlan architects. The project had been featured in a number of architectural publications at the time including in Architectural Review in May 2005 and in House and Garden in May 2007.

The 2001 dramatic redevelopment of this Victorian villa included bespoke interiors, an extensive internal and external renovation programme of works, the creation of a glorious four storey internal hall, and large glazed areas at the rear of the house over two levels.

These glazed areas opened up the full width interiors to the rear landscaped garden, sliver slender birch trees and to a water feature in a way that created a quiet and intimate dialogue between the interiors of the house and the forest-like, carefully curated, mature garden environment outside.

The house was re-designed for a young family however the exact detailing of the interior spaces, the interplay with natural light and the sequencing of spaces created the distinctive feel of a gallery and this was the first thing I took away when I first visited the house.

In fact the house was meant to showcase the previous owners’ collection of Renaissance frames and this was evident even after the collection was removed and the house stood empty for the new owners.

The new home owners in 2019 wanted to put their own stamp on the property in regards to the overall balance and function of the internal spaces and in regards to the overall aesthetic internally and externally.

The challenge here was substantial and something that needed to be very carefully considered.

Fiona McLean had created a singular design for a specific brief and she executed it with great skill and precision. When you deal with a singular vision it is extremely difficult to change it in a way that is both compatible with the true DNA and design intent of the existing house while also satisfying the requirements of the new home owners.

It is an impossible task. The danger, and a real possibility, is that the new design will appear awkward, lacking identity, and carrying design elements that have neither a common rhythm, language or intention.

In addition to these challenges we wanted to extend the property at the rear and to alter the external appearance of the property in certain ways to accommodate the Client brief requirements as best as possible.

And this is when we of course had to consider the original house, its characteristics, language and heritage value.

Very early in the process it became clear the local authority conservation officer had concerns about how the previously renovated property fitted within the terrace and within the Holland Park Conservation Area.

This meant that our proposals would also have to address these concerns. The officer’s view was that the rear elevation appeared unbalanced and that a historic sense of verticality had been removed by the previous alterations to this Victorian villa in the Holland Park Conservation Area.

For this reason our proposals had to carefully remove elements of the previous additions to the building, to restore some of its lost language, to re-introduce materials that were original to the house and that “grounded” the house to its setting, and to do so in a way that fitted the contemporary and precise way the rear elevation had been remodelled.

In design terms we have to find the balance between re-instating a vertical historic orientation to a previously horizontally contemporarily arranged rear elevation. And we also had to add a new extension at the rear with a new landscape scheme to replace the tranquil landscape scheme there at the time.

With collaboration with HWDC, that acted on behalf of the Clients, I prepared a number of proposals to explore options and we obtained pre-application planning advice from Kensington and Chelsea in March 2019.

This was followed by another round of exhaustive pre-application planning discussions with the Kensington and Chelsea conservation officer in May 2019 when we identified the key issues and we agreed to a design in principle that managed to satisfy both the Conservation Officer and our Clients.

With the design pretty much agreed we made the planning submission in August 2019 and it was successfully and efficiently approved in October 2019 with no delay or with no further amendments requested by the planners.

With reference to the Holland Park Conservation Area Appraisal – June 2017

Summary of Character
Holland Park Conservation Area was designated in 1981 when two smaller conservation areas were amalgamated. The area contains many important buildings and groups of buildings of high historic and architectural significance.

The area centres on Holland House (grade I), its parkland (grade II) and the speculative development around it (some of which is also listed). Although now a ruin, the house, dating from c.1605, is of great historical and architectural significance and intrinsically linked to the surrounding housing that was built to fund the extravagant life of the Holland family as well as the upkeep of the house and parkland. Holland House was partially destroyed in World War II but soon after was transferred to council ownership, along with the parkland, via the London County Council. The house is conserved as a romantic ruin and vestige of Victorian aristocratic life and the parkland provides a luxurious, naturalistic setting to the house that includes formal gardens, woodland and playing fields that are open to the public.

The houses that were built to fund the estate have also become important examples of mid Victorian speculative development of various types. To the north, Holland Park contains three streets of highly decorated, stuccoed houses with a mews running between them, all of which are listed at grade II for their significance as an important group in an exuberant Italianate style. To the west are three streets of large detached villas of which so many other examples have been lost. These Classically designed houses – stucco fronted with parapet roofs in Addison Road and stock brick with hipped roofs in Holland Park Road – form an important group that are enhanced by their attractive settings of large gardens with mature trees.

The area also contains an extremely significant collection of purpose-designed artists’ studio-houses towards the south. Many artists’ studios are present in the borough, but Melbury Road and Holland Park Road form one of the enclaves where there is an important concentration of studio-houses.

These were commissioned by successful artists from renowned architects who designed buildings in avant-garde styles where the artists could live, work and hold salons. Renowned architects, Philip Webb, Richard Norman Shaw, Halsey Ricardo and George Aitchison designed studios here; and the home that Gothic architect, William Burgess, built for himself, The Tower House, is also in this area.

All these are listed for their importance not just to the area, but to the nation as a whole.

The area continued to be developed in the 1960s with several high flat blocks being built. The core of the conservation area was redeveloped with a swathe of inward-looking 1960s housing and there was regrettably some loss from the Melbury area too. The jewel from this period, however, was the Commonwealth Institute (now the Design Museum) designed by Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners to emulate a tent with enormous sweeping roofs seemingly held down by giant tent pegs.

Holland Park Conservation Area is an area of great heritage significance, and is generally well maintained and fully justifies its status as well as all efforts to conserve its special character for future generations.”

The character of Holland Villas Road is very similar and has the added appeal that the villas line both sides of the street, but the front elevations of the houses have been treated differently to those in Addison Road. Nos. 1-37 (consec) were commenced by Hall between 1857-58 but in fact very few were actually completed by 1860. They are built of stock brick with simple stucco dressings such as the architraves to the first floor windows, ground floor bays and doorcases with engaged square section pilasters. The sash windows are divided by one vertical glazing bar to all windows (except the side lights to the tripartite upper storey ones) and original doors have four panels. Some houses have an extra storey which copies the detailing of the storeys below. The houses all have hipped slate roofs with deep eaves and chimney stacks to both flanks, but many dormers have been added. To the rear, the houses have a distinctive centralised closet wing with a gabled roof. The gardens of the houses are again large and contain many mature trees giving the effect of an avenue in places.

The boundaries are formed of stock brick walls with cast iron railings planted into stone copings, but these often have varying designs. Modern railings with undersized mild steel bars and sometimes gold painted tips fail to reflect the high quality of the houses and an agreed scheme of uniform design would enhance the character of the conservation area. Similarly, excessive paving and lack of substantial planting in many places are harmful. Visually intrusive security bars have been added to all windows at several houses and these have a highly detrimental effect, both on the appearance of the area and by creating a an unfriendly and fearful environment.”