National Trust’s Assembly Rooms refurbishment plan approved

The National Trust’s proposed £17 million refurbishment and alterations project for the Assembly Rooms in Bath has this week won council approval.

The Assembly Rooms in Bath

The scheme includes a new Georgian visitor experience, due to open in late 2026 at the Grade I site in Bennett Street.

The Assembly Rooms, designed by John Wood the Younger, housed the world-famous Fashion Museum until 2022 and had been let to the council since 1937, but the National Trust enforced a break clause to take it back. 

The building was severely damaged during the German bombing raids of 1942 which resulted in its near total loss, but unusually for the time, when many bomb-damaged buildings in the UK were either left as ruins or demolished, it was restored in the 1950s.

The National Trust is planning an internal and external refurbishment and alterations in support of visitor experience and continued events use.

Access improvements include a new public stair and lift next to the principal entrance. There will be a single-storey extension to accommodate a new escape stair and lift. 

Improved services and sustainable infrastructure will be installed, including external air source heat pump units and solar panels. 

The 20th-century internal partitions will be removed and altered including improved toilet provision, acoustic and fire separation to floors, and improvements to environmental performance, including slimline double glazing and ceiling insulation.

Historic England and The Georgian Group voiced support for the refurbishment, as did Bath Preservation Trust and Transition Bath. 

Bath & North East Somerset Council planners praised the proposals, saying the historic building has been “thoroughly and comprehensively assessed, analysed, and understood”.

They said energy efficiency benefits will not only allow the National Trust to cost-effectively operate and manage the building, but also contribute to the reduction in carbon emissions and address climate change whilst preserving the architectural interest of the listed building, the character and appearance of the conservation area, and safeguarding and preserving the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site.

The council has plans to open a new Fashion Museum with a purpose-built collections study centre at the old Post Office on New Bond Street.