Blackfriars Street

Blackfriars Street is a historic mid-19th Century terraced house located within Canterbury’s medieval city walls. The property is grade II listed and occupies a prominent location within the Canterbury Conservation Area. Our client wished to preserve and restore the historic building fabric whilst modernising the property to meet contemporary living requirements.

The existing building suffered from ongoing deterioration and weathering issues, caused in part by twentieth century renovations. We undertook a detailed analysis to fully understand the causes of these issues and proposed a series of sensitive interventions to preserve and reinstate the original character of the building.

A detailed study of the existing windows along Blackfriars Street identified that the original single glazed windows of the property had been adjusted over time. Our proposals retained and repaired the original window elements whilst the later additions were replaced with new bespoke double-glazed sash units. These interventions reinstated the original character of the sash windows, whilst improving thermal performance, and represented a first planning approval of double-glazed units along the street. To the rear façade, new timber framed French Doors improve connections to the walled rear garden.

Large areas of the original brick facades had been repointed with cement mortar over time, which was damaging the brickwork and contributing to ongoing damp issues. To address these issues, the cement mortar was carefully removed and replaced with a lime mortar to allow the façade to breath as originally intended. The damaged bricks were replaced with new bricks carefully selected to match the existing façade.

Internally, the ground floor has been subtly reconfigured, by removing a contemporary partition, to create an open plan living, dining space. This brings natural light deep into the plan and maximises views of the nearby Canterbury Cathedral. Careful and sensitive refurbishment of the internal finishes is proposed throughout to bring the property up to contemporary standards.