27-29 Crawford Place lies in the Molyneux Street Conservation Area and is typical of the early 19th-century residential architecture that predominates in the district. It is built in London Brick and rises to three storeys over an extensive basement level, with a distinctive Butterfly roof, and deep-set box-sash windows. The building occupies the entire footprint of the site, with the upper stories stepped back at the rear to create lightwells for the ground floor and basement. However, the light well at the front of the building, a defining characteristic of townhouse properties from this era, has been covered over, and the railings removed, at some point in the property's more recent history.

Our client asked us to explore options for converting this property into a high-quality Hotel development that would enable its maximal commercial performance. Our proposals for Crawford Place carefully consider its context and are in keeping with the neighbourhood. We are proposing a modern and accessible 17-room hotel and cafe bar while fully preserving the character of the building and making a significant improvement to the current street scene.

Crawford Place is extremely well located for public transport and it has the highest possible TfL PTAL rating of 6B, making it an excellent location for a hotel in this popular and pleasant London destination. There are several underground stations and lines (Bakerloo, Circle, District) within walking distance. Paddington Station is also a short walk away, along with access to major bus routes on nearby Edgeware Road and Marylebone Road.

Our proposals involve the refurbishment of the frontage, retaining the position of all the ground floor openings, but extending the windows to allow more daylight and sunlight into the ground floor reception and cafe bar.

In order to provide more light to the basement level, we are reinstating the light well at the front, creating a street-level bridge between the paving and the main entrance, and adding basement-level windows aligned with those of the ground floor to extend the architectural proportions downwards. Awnings are specified for the frontage to reduce glare and manage temperatures, while a horizontal planter runs the width of the building between the ground and first floors to add colour and interest.

The front light well will also serve as a fire exit, with steps leading up from the basement door to street level, surrounded by a metal railing in line with other buildings of this vintage and design.

At the rear of the building our design proposes to raise the floor on one side to create a consistent floor level, and remodelling the windows at the rear to present a more consistent window pattern. We will retain the light wells at the rear with only minimal modifications.

Within the fabric of the building, our design carefully organises 17 hotel rooms across all floors to give the most space and access to daylight. We have specified a platform lift within the building to give step-free access to all floors, and our plans include a fully accessible hotel room on the lower level.

This project is an excellent example of refurbishing an historic building to meet commercial requirements without excessively changing its outward appearance and working within the constraints of a conservation area. Retaining the fabric of the building with only minor improvements helps preserve its architectural merit and contribution to the street scene, limits carbon emissions, and minimises disruption to the community.

We are confident our proposal meets the stringent requirements of redevelopment within the conservation area without compromising our client's need for commercial viability.