[library photo]
It’s always good to hear when there is movement regarding the conversion of the old Mineral Water Hospital in Bath.
This Grade 11* listed building – dating back to 1742 – was bought by the Fragrance Group of Singapore to convert into a 160-bedroom hotel.
While work has been underway to strip out its former National Health Service credentials, the main contractors charged with the conversion have yet to start the reconstruction.
The company is making planning applications as Fragrance UK – Bath Ltd, and has now applied for some form of external lighting.
It argues that The Min has status as an ‘anchor building’ of note. All other significant ‘anchor buildings’ in the city are lit at night with a distinct lighting scheme as opposed to being lit by street lamps.
The Min fronts Upper Borough Walls, which isn’t well lit, and the application is asking for permission to highlight its classical features in quite a subtle way during the hours of darkness.
I quote from the application’s ‘Heritage Statement’ as follows:
“With its frontage of prominent pedimented central sections of three bays with giant Ionic columns to both the East and West Wings, its deep cornices and entablatures, its strong symmetry, typical Georgian proportion and balance, and typically restrained ornamentation, all in the classical tradition, the Bath Min’s frontage presents a powerful expression of Neo-Classical / Palladian grandeur and formality, which means that it strongly contributes to the significance of its place, forming a key piece of its historical context. ‘
Elsewhere, it states:
“Pre-Application Advice was sought from BANES, which resulted in a reduction in the extent of proposed lighting.
The façade areas subject to lighting have been reduced, as has the number of fittings.
The focus is now on the most significant of the architectural features only. Where features were initially being picked up, now only the most significant of the architectural features only.
Where features were initially being picked up by more than one lighting source – i.e. the pediments – the proposals now limit that to the single source. ‘
