A major refurbishment project for the Grade I listed Parade Park Hotel at North Parade in Bath has been approved by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The Parade Park Hotel on North Parade
The hotel spans three houses that were originally constructed around 1740 by John Wood the Elder and connected under the road to Parade Gardens.
The buildings were used as lodging houses from the 1750s for 170 years. Separate hotels were then created, with numbers 8 and 9 becoming connected and known as the Grosvenor Hotel in 1921.
By 1931, No 10 had become Sheriff’s Hotel and was rebranded as North Parade Hotel around 1966. The three properties were linked in 1997 to create one single large hotel.
Many important features, including staircases, remain.
The application to carry out refurbishment work was submitted to the council by Fairtree Asset Management LLP.
A supporting statement notes: “Parade Park Hotel is in need of essential repair and refurbishment, and the proposed alterations to internal layouts and external improvements will provide functionally and accessible facilities necessary for that of a modern hotel.
“Through extensive research into the building’s history, a clear design brief has been developed to not only improve the hotel but protect its historic fabric.
“Through remedial works, removal of modern alterations and the replacement of original details and windows, the proposed scheme will greatly improve the condition of the hotel.
“In addition, the improvement works to the garden and proposed courtyard rooms will enhance a currently forgotten and important area of the existing building.”
The plans include using the basement rooms of the rear wings as spa rooms and treatment facilities and adding three en-suite rooms in a new single-storey garden building.
Being next to a “highly sensitive part of the highway network within the city centre”, one of the conditions of permission being granted is for a construction management plan to help mitigate the impacts of the building work.
Sarah Tassell, director at Spratley & Partners, the architects appointed for the project, said: “We’re delighted to have achieved planning consent for the refurbishment of Parade Park Hotel.
“Given the building’s Grade I listed status, this is a significant milestone and has taken careful negotiation with the local authority.
“Through extensive research into the building’s history, we’ve developed a design which breathes new life into the hotel whilst respecting its heritage.”
