REFURBISHMENT IN
OXFORD’S MOST FAMOUS CRESCENT

Park Town is a crescent of Grade II listed buildings located in a historic setting in Oxford. Park Town was the first planned middle class development in the city and the villas of Park Town have a group listing.

Having previously been unsympathetically converted into four apartments, WG Carter undertook a comprehensive yet sensitive refurbishment of one of the terraced houses in order to restore the building as originally designed by Architect Samuel Lipscombe Seckham. The client wanted to safeguard this heritage asset whilst bringing it up to date with the latest services, technologies and decoration for modern day living.

The project included the reinstatement of the original main entrance including the Ashlar stone steps and internal alterations to reinstate the original entrance hall and staircase in the position of the original. The staircase is manufactured from timber and completed with a French polished balustrade over metal spindles.

External works included the stripping of the exterior render before re-rendering using lime render and traditional rendering techniques to reflect the original design.

The original ornamental cast iron railings, which are synonymous with Park Town, required complete reinstatement, having previously been removed. The cast iron sub contractor used the original patents for the design of the Park Town railings, in order to match the exact pattern from 1853.

The remaining original sash windows were restored, as were the original wooden window shutters on the ground floor. The coving and cornice work was repaired and renovated to match the original cornicing. Where sections had been removed over the years, specially made moulds were taken on site from the original cornices to ensure an exact match. Skirtings and architraves that had been installed during previous refurbishments were removed and replaced with traditional 3-part skirting boards.

The thermal performance of the whole building was improved with the addition of insulation, the renovation of the old sash windows and doors and improvements to the external fabric of the building. Being Grade ll listed, the windows are single glazed as the originals were, but the installation of smart technologies such as heating sensors and light detectors, has helped to decrease the energy usage of the building.

This project was awarded a commendation by the Oxford Preservation Trust Awards 2018.

Architect: Anderson Orr
Interior Designer: Nia Morris
Photographer: Andrew Beasley