Project at a Glance

  • Location: Bootham, York (YO30 7DQ)
  • Project Type: Change of Use, Refurbishment & Renovation, Rear Extension
  • Heritage Status: Grade II Listed (Early C19th) / Central Historic Core Conservation Area
  • Original Use: Retail shop with flat above
  • Floor Area: 2,392 sq ft (222.22 sq m)
  • Planning References: 10/00504/FUL & 10/00505/LBC
  • Status: Full Planning & Listed Building Consent Granted (Completed 2013)
  • Award: 2013 York Design Award

As a leading York heritage architecture practice, Fining Associates was commissioned to deliver this complex Grade II listed building restoration in York, reversing decades of commercial alteration at a prominent site on Bootham. The ambitious brief required a forensic reinstatement of the property’s early nineteenth-century Georgian frontage, alongside the replacement of a tired rear store with a contemporary family living space.

The Challenge

Navigating a high-specification heritage reinstatement requires successfully balancing rigorous conservation standards with modern residential needs. Built in the early nineteenth century as a traditional three-storey mid-terrace property, the building had operated as a retail unit since at least the 1950s, most recently trading as Whitings Delicatessen. The site is highly sensitive, sitting within both the Central Historic Core Conservation Area and the City Centre Area of Archaeological Interest, a short walk from the city walls.

The existing street elevation featured a 1991 shopfront—a visually distracting, incongruous modern addition that disrupted the historic rhythm and proportions of the Georgian terrace. To the rear, the building suffered from a dilapidated, two-part store extension comprising a historic brick-walled structure with a corrugated-asbestos monopitch roof and a later, crude breeze-block addition built without planning permission. Furthermore, the severed internal staircase stopped short of the ground floor due to the commercial use, and non-original rear windows had been installed in the mid-twentieth century.

Compounding the design and conservation challenges, the proposed change of use also had to clear a significant planning policy test. Policy S9 of the City of York Local Plan only permitted the loss of a local retail unit where there was no longer a local need for the facility, or where suitable alternative provision existed nearby—a hurdle the application needed to overcome before the residential conversion could even be considered.

The Approach

The project team developed a core design proposal divided into two distinct strands. First, the 1991 shopfront was entirely removed to recreate the Georgian front elevation. This involved replicating the original surviving door and window arrangement of the unaltered neighbouring property at No. 71 Bootham, and restoring brickwork and joinery to match historic construction, in line with the council’s specification for reclaimed, second-hand clamp bricks. Internally, the ground-floor plan was recreated, and the existing staircase was extended down to ground level. Historically appropriate sash windows were also reinstated to the rear elevation.

Second, the unauthorised and disjointed rear store was demolished. In its place, the practice designed a deliberately modern and simple single-storey rear extension to provide additional family accommodation, forming the genesis of an open-plan living space. The extension’s footprint was carefully negotiated and specifically reduced to avoid any disturbance to a protected tree within the garden of No. 71, ensuring no objection from the council’s Landscape Architect.

Third, the case for residential conversion was reinforced with independent market evidence. The shop had ceased trading at the end of March 2010, having been marketed for sale together with the business since May 2006 without a single offer—a position attributed to the 2008–10 financial downturn and the presence of competing convenience retail nearby, including a Spar at Clifton Green, a Londis on Bootham Crescent, and a new Sainsbury’s at the edge of the city centre. This evidence satisfied the council that suitable alternative facilities existed in the area, clearing the Policy S9 test and allowing the change of use to residential to proceed.

The practice’s expertise and attention to detail satisfied the council’s heritage and planning policy requirements from the outset, resulting in a confident, well-managed consent process. Full Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent were granted, supported by the Clifton Planning Panel and Conservation Areas Advisory Panel. A comprehensive package of pre-commencement conditions was subsequently discharged, including the provision of 1:50 scale historic joinery detailing, method statements for the retention of existing boundary walls, and the facilitation of an archaeological watching brief.

The Outcome

This comprehensive Grade II listed building restoration York project successfully reverted the property to a single dwellinghouse for the first time in over half a century. Finished in 2013, the scheme provided 2,392 sq ft of versatile, five-storey accommodation across four bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office, and a long, private rear garden. The removal of the retail unit actively enhanced the character and appearance of the conservation area, while the change to residential use successfully reduced demands on parking and traffic generation compared with the lawful retail-with-flat-above use.

The practice’s forensic attention to historic detail and spatial innovation was formally recognised when the scheme won the 2013 York Design Award, praised for its “eye-catching design” and commended as a “hugely successful renovation and extension.”

If you are considering a listed building restoration or require expert guidance on complex change-of-use planning applications, please contact our team to discuss your project.

For further examples of award winning designs on Heritage Buildings, check out our 2009 Award Winning Project at Dalton Terrace or our 2023 Award Winning Project at Tower Street, opposite Clifton’s Tower.