New flats planned within historic building in Shrewsbury
Flats could be created above a former hairdressers in a Grade II Listed building if plans are approved.
Plans have been submitted for 68 Mardol, Shrewsbury, which has parts that date back to the 18th Century.
If the plans are approved, two two-bedroom apartments would be built above the shop on the ground floor.
The plans say that the current floor plan indicates it would have been a typical shopkeepers house.
But all the evidence of the original building is lost on the ground floor as it has been largely altered to form a large open plan shop.
It says: “The floor plan at first floor level and the position of the staircase indicates that this was probably a typical shopkeepers house of which there are many examples in Shrewsbury, particularly on Butcher Row, which would have had a shuttered shop front and a side passage on its northern side which led to a side entrance to the shop and first floor accommodation and access through to the rear yard.
“Although all historic internal features have been lost at ground floor they largely remain at first and second floor level with fireplaces, panelling, cornices and arched niche in the panelled front room at first floor.”
The plans say that the client intends to return the building to its original use.
The attic would be turned into part of an apartment, in the form of a Mansard roof.
Access to the apartments would be via a new external door incorporated within a new shop front and a new staircase to the first floor.
New door and partition walls would be provided on the first floor to create a lobby and entrance to the first floor apartment and access to the second floor.
At the back of the building, the existing modern staircase from the ground floor to the first floor will be removed and the first floor will be reinstated.
The apartment on the second floor will be arranged on two levels and inverted so the bedroom is on the second floor with a living, dining and kitchen area in the attic.
The plans add: “We believe the design provides for a minimal intervention or alteration of the historic fabric whilst at the same time reintroducing original circulation routes and a traditional roof structure, bringing the whole of the building back into beneficial use ensuring that the historic building is fully repaired and maintained in the future, thus ensuring the preservation of the historic asset.”
A decision will be made on the plans in the coming months.
