Practice cleared to replace 1930s semis with four-storey apartment building
Goldstein Heather Architecture has secured planning consent to demolish a pair of 1930s semi-detached houses in north London for replacement with a four-storey development of flats.
The practice’s proposals for Regents Park Road in Finchley will deliver nine flats for applicant Regents Garden Ltd, the majority of which will feature two bedrooms.
Goldstein Heather said the neighbourhood, which is a short distance from the North Circular Road, was better suited to apartment blocks than semi-detached houses and that its scheme for the corner plot sought to develop the “potential for elegance and understated grandeur” with distinctive lines and a dynamic form.
Barnet council planning officers used delegated powers to approve the proposals this week.
A report supporting the decision noted that the new apartment building would occupy a larger footprint than the existing houses on the site and be taller than adjacent homes. But it said the block would not appear as a “dominant and prominent” structure in context.
Officers said the scheme had been designed to respect the height and scale of the adjacent part-three, part-four-storey corner building Beechwood Hall.
“It is accepted that the proposal will introduce a scale and form that will differ from the character and appearance of this section of low-rise villas,” they said. “However, as the site is a corner property and is adjacent to blocks of self-contained units, a modern self-contained block of flats of comparable height with these is considered to be acceptable at this site.”
The report said 13 consultation responses were received in relation to the proposals, 10 of which were supportive.
MJP Planning is planning consultant for the project.
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