Situated within the Hounslow conservation area of Grove Park, The Station House was built in 1867 as the Grove Park Hotel - a central feature of the new district rapidly being built around the new railway station. The Station House is a popular and well-regarded pub, close to Chiswick overground, well connected to public transport, and has excellent access to roads heading west and south west out of London.

Our client wanted to expand the property to deliver four desirable new homes, requiring the refurbishment and remodelling of the structure, while retaining its character and appearance. The building is locally listed, lies within the conservation area as stated previously, and also sits adjacent to the Grade II listed Chiswick Station House. On this basis we concluded that the building was a heritage asset which demanded retention and restoration.

The context presented a mix of architectural styles with historical points of interest including Chiswick House, Lord Burlington's 18th century villa, and Hogarth's House, both nearby. Suburban semi-detached houses dominate in the immediate vicinity but a variety of other styles, including art deco apartment blocks and more modern architecture, can all be found within walking distance.

The property itself comprises a three-storey + basement main building with a twin gable roof built in London Brick. A single-storey extension to the rear creates a large flat roof area, and 1st floor, 1-room flat roof extension to the main building sits within it, creating an amenity for the floor above. After consultation with the local authority, we successfully accommodated all the concerns raised about the reduction in the pub’s capacity, possible daylight and sunlight blocking, and a lack of cycle storage with our design.

We have extended the architectural language of the main building rearwards, extending its massing further towards the back of the property, including the roof pattern, while taking into account the constraints put on the site by neighbouring properties and subsuming the single room, first floor extension.

Previously rejected plans to raise the rear, single storey extension to two floors would have obstructed existing views and caused unacceptable blocking of daylight. Instead, our design involves lowering the ground level to the rear,  extending the structure downwards and adding a slab to create a second storey below the first. This also allowed us to use its flat roof to create an amenity accessible from the main building,  lessening the appearance of mass.

The refurbishment of The Station House fully embodies our principle of leveraging embedded carbon emissions to create sustainably constructed new dwelling spaces, and delivers four desirable, two bedroom apartments in this charming and sought after area of the capital. The homes will all have great access to the overground rail network and its connections, nearby local shopping, entertainment and amenities and green infrastructure, including Dukes Meadows (home of the weekly Chiswick Farmers Market) and Chiswick Gardens, while the Thames Path runs nearby.

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