Bath’s flagship project!

A sneak peek into the future. An artist’s impression of how one of the display galleries in the new Fashion Museum Bath might look on completion of a multi-million-pound scheme to turn the city’s first purpose-built post office – opened in 1927 – into the collection’s new home.

You know l love looking through the weekly planning application list, and this morning I spotted https://app.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=26%2F00101%2FREG03 the first official application from B&NES to B&NES seeking planning approval for a ‘Change of use of buildings from retail, post office (use class E) and residential (use class C3), to proposed museum use (use class F1) ‘

According to the ‘Heritage Statement’, the FMB is ‘the flagship development in B&NES’s ambitious masterplan to regenerate the Milsom Quarter as a vibrant cultural, fashion and retail hub in the centre of Bath.’

Elsewhere, it reminds us that ‘Fashion Museum Bath holds one of the world’s leading collections of fashion. Designated as a collection of outstanding national significance, it contains more than 100,000 items ranging in date from 1600 to the present day, with particular strengths in European, especially British, fashionable dress and accessories.

The lease on its former premises ( Assembly Rooms) having ended in 2022, FMB is currently homeless, and the collection is in store, inaccessible to the public.’

The collection is currently gratefully housed at the premises of glove makers Dent’s of Warminster, and l see no reference to where those 100,000 items will be permanently stored.

It’s an exciting project, and l will leave you to plough through this application, but l was disappointed to read that the intention is to close the Rotunda entrance and have more ‘inclusive’ access given to everyone through side doors.

It is such an obvious and impressive entrance to the building that l think it should remain the main way in.

With the greatest of respect to those with special needs, a level entrance with no steps would be just around the corner.

Here’s what the application says:

‘The former public entrance route via the Rotunda will be closed, and access will be provided
by the new doors on the Northgate Street and New Bond Street elevations.
There are two steps up into the Rotunda, which make it inaccessible to people with impaired
mobility.

Closing this route will ensure that public access to FMB is inclusive and equal, and
that no one is excluded from using any of the available routes into the listed building. It
removes any confusion about which entrance to use, rationalises internal circulation, and
liberates space in the Foyer directly behind the Rotunda. The proposal is simply a matter of closing the doors.’

What do others think? The one thing the ‘rotunda’ will have is a flagpole. There used to be one, and the fittings are still on top of the dome. Also, just inside, there are wartime memorial plaques. Where will they go?

Do have a look, and I welcome your comments.

PS. I popped into Rodd and Gunn, the New Zealand men’s outfitters, who currently occupy space that will eventually be needed for the development. I noticed their signage under the pavement-level windows has been removed, and went in to ask if they were leaving.

The answer is no, and, apparently, no notice was given when workmen suddenly arrived to take the lettering off.

Now I know the intention is to lower the sills on those windows as part of the plan, but it’s still a little early to be preparing for that.

Plus, developers will have a lot of screw holes to fill from this retailer and the ones who occupied the building before them.