News
Balfour Stewart House, 33 Ellersly Rd
Friday, 11 July 2008
At the meeting on 1st July we heard the latest on the above from Messrs C Smith (Turley Associates) and S Campbell (SMC Hugh Martin). Because of the problems with the design of the building – it was very difficult to use it for any purpose other than the original one of a HQ Office – it had been proposed that the building be demolished and housing built there. However, the planning application to do this had been turned down. Turley Associates and SMC Hugh Martin were therefore considering other uses largely retaining the present building while continuing an on-going marketing exercise. These other possible uses could be hotel, medical, residential or commercial use. The main problem with the building concerned the lower floors, which were buried in the hill and lacked daylight. This made it not very useful for office accommodation, and for hospital or hotel use the multiplicity of pillars restricting the size of rooms and the design of the ceilings introduced problems. Its location as a hotel was also not ideal. One possibility to make it more suitable for conversion to residential use would be to enlarge the central court to allow more light in. The main question was to what extent the building could be modified if it was to be retained.