This document discusses several examples of new construction projects in historic settings in England that successfully incorporated modern design elements while respecting the historic context. It provides case studies of projects such as a new visitor center addition to Norwich Cathedral that retained medieval masonry and added contrasting modern elements. Another example is a new gallery building in Mayfair that replaced compromised older structures with a high-quality Portland stone facade. A third project featured a new street facade in Tottenham Court Road that featured giant classical orders over rusticated ground floors to complement surrounding buildings.

1. “New Buildings in
Historic Settings:
Recent Conservation
Experience in
England”
by Steven W. Semes
Enhanced Content:
Slideshow

2. Hostry, Refectory, and Upper Cloister, Norwich Cathedral. Architect: Hopkins Architects, 2004-2009. To accommodate the functions of a new visitor
center, surviving medieval masonry walls and archeological remains of the original cloister were retained and restored. Within the existing masonry
fabric, contrasting and unmistakably modern elements were added in timber, metal, and glass. The former pilgrims’ hall now houses community and
education rooms, exhibition area, and choir rehearsal space; the former refectory is once again a dining facility. The completed project was cited by the
director of SPAB as an example of their “preferred treatment.”
CREDIT: RICHARD DAVIES AND COURTESY HOPKINS ARCHITECTS

3. Interior view of refectory showing new
and old construction.
CREDIT: RICHARD DAVIES AND COURTESY HOPKINS ARCHITECTS

4. Richard Green Gallery, 33 New Bond Street,
London. Architect: George Saumarez Smith
of ADAM Architecture, 2011. This new
building in the Mayfair Conservation Area
replaces two unlisted structures on the site
from the 19th and early 20th centuries, both
of which had been compromised by
previous remodeling. The local authority
was ultimately convinced that constructing a
new building, rather than restoring the older
facades, would make the most positive
contribution to the historic streetscape.
Bolstering this decision was the high quality
of the Portland stone facade and its
sculptural reliefs by Alexander Stoddart. The
project received the Georgian Group’s 2011
Giles Worsley Award for New Building in
Georgian Context.
CREDIT: MORLEY VON STERNBERG

5. Detail of sculptural decoration of the Richard
Green Gallery.
CREDIT: MORLEY VON STERNBERG

6. 264-267 Tottenham Court Road, London.
Architect: Quinlan and Francis Terry, LLP.,
2004-2009. The new 100-foot, nine-bay
street facade features superimposed giant
Ionic and Corinthian orders over a rusticated
and arcaded ground floor, the whole
“bookended” by more solid transitional bays.
The developer and original architect insisted
at first on a modernist scheme which was
refused by officials; this decision was
appealed but subsequently upheld. The firm
was then engaged and its design was
supported by the authorities and the
Georgian Group, which bestowed on the
project its award for New Building in the
Classical Tradition in 2009.
PHOTO COURTESY: QUINLAN AND FRANCIS TERRY ARCHITECTS

7. Full facade of 264-267 Tottenham Court
Road.
PHOTO COURTESY: QUINLAN AND FRANCIS TERRY ARCHITECTS

8. 198-202 Piccadilly, London. Architect: Robert
Adam of ADAM Architecture, 2007. Adam’s firm
was asked to design a new mixed-use building
adjacent to the listed Simpson’s building, a
modernist design of the early 1930s whose
ribbon windows and bands of pale stone
appeared in marked contrast to the neighboring
eclectic Edwardian facades. The planning
commission asked the developer to “preserve
the original setting” of the structure; that is, they
required a traditional new building to retain the
original contrast between the modernist listed
building and its traditional neighbors. While
Adam’s design is not a pure exercise in any
historical style, the massing, proportions,
articulation, and ornamental details by classical
sculptor Alexander Stoddart sustain the
requested contrast with the Simpson’s building
next door. The building received a
commendation from The Georgian Group in
2008.
CREDIT: MORLEY VON STERNBERG

9. Detail of sculptural decoration at 198-202
Piccadilly.
CREDIT: MORLEY VON STERNBERG

10. Remodeling and Additions for a Private Residence, Kensington, London. Architect: Alireza Sagharchi of Stanhope Gate Architecture & Urban Design,
2013. An 1850s Italianate Villa in the Kensington conservation area was remodeled for a new residential owner. The architect removed the two
secondary stair enclosures on the rear which were added in the 1930s and added a wing to complete the implied symmetry of the design, as well as a
glazed loggia on the garden elevation. The proposed additions are in the same style as the historic building and intended to appear "seamless" with the
original construction. Local conservation officers as well as English Heritage supported this approach, especially in view of the building's previous
history of alteration. Approval was granted and the project is now under construction. Pictured here: Watercolor rendering of proposed remodeling
CREDIT: STANHOPE GATE ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

11. www.PreservationNation.org/Forum