Number 10, Beauford Square is owned by a charitable organisation who own and manage a large number of historic properties in Bath. It is the last property within Beauford Square to require refurbishment under an extensive programme of works for the square. Number 10 is a rare example of a diminutive lower class Bath town shop and house that still retains many of its original fittings and fixtures (being un-modernised internally). Empty for many years, it became derelict and structurally unsafe with badly decayed timber floors and rubble walls. Our scheme of refurbishment was designed to conserve the historic Georgian structure and fixtures, limiting alterations to the minimum necessary to secure structural integrity and restore the building to its original use, necessary to secure its long term future.
The floors and staircase to the rear are supported by a plank and muntin wall that had completely decayed within the basement storey and started to collapse. Conserving this unique feature in place, whilst carrying out the repairs required to the adjacent stonework was been a considerable challenge, as traditional repair techniques have had to be married with temporary steel structures in a very tight space. During the course of the works live drainage systems to neighbouring properties were discovered, and have had to be retained in use whilst drainage and floor repairs were carried out in the basement. Work included the installation of sprinkler systems to allow the original timbers to be retained whilst meeting the modern fire safety requirements needed in order to return the ground and basement floors to retail use.