House renovation
& refurbishment
in Dartmouth Park, NW5

The appraisal traces the houses here from late 18th century terraces to the present, with larger detached houses in the heart of the area and smaller houses and terraces to the south and north.

We survey a house floor by floor, recording what is original before deciding what to keep, repair or replace.

Source: Camden: Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Statement (adopted 22 January 2009)

Dartmouth Park Avenue has large late 19th century villas in red and grey stock brick under slate, of two or three storeys over basements that open to the garden.

On Laurier Road east most houses are by Smerdon or builders close to him, in gault brick; the downhill houses on the south side have two-storey canted bays and dormers, and many part-glazed front doors keep their stained glass.

The neighbourhood plan protects the view down Laurier Road towards the Heath.

Stained glass is taken out, numbered and stored before work starts, then refitted in the overhauled doors.

Sources: Camden: Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Statement (adopted 22 January 2009), Dartmouth Park Neighbourhood Plan (made by Camden, 2 March 2020)

Croftdown Road's south side has six-house terraces over semi-basements with hipped roofs, large chimney stacks, red fronts and yellow stock backs.

The west side of Brookfield Park has Smerdon's Arts and Crafts pairs of the early 1900s, each with a third storey in the gabled roof.

Where front and back are built in different bricks, repairs are matched separately to each face.

Source: Camden: Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Statement (adopted 22 January 2009)

Camden expects original features to be kept and refurbished, replaced only when beyond repair, and encourages owners to reinstate any that are missing.

Finials, bargeboards, iron pot guards and front doors have already gone from many houses, and small changes such as satellite dishes add up.

Our joiners copy a missing door or bargeboard from a survivor in the same group.

Source: Camden: Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Statement (adopted 22 January 2009)

The appraisal lists painted brickwork that hides polychromatic design, and unsympathetic reroofing and windows, among Dartmouth West's negative features.

Camden's 2012 guidance says external wall insulation will rarely be acceptable on a front elevation.

We take paint off brick only after a trial patch, and repoint in lime to the original joint.

Sources: Camden: Dartmouth Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Statement (adopted 22 January 2009), Camden: Energy efficiency planning guidance for Dartmouth Park Conservation Area (adopted 23 August 2012)

Policy DC2 asks every alteration or extension in the conservation area to preserve or enhance it.

Policy DC3 asks for subordinate extensions in materials that complement the surrounding palette.

Camden must check proposals against the plan, whose policies run to 2034.

Source: Dartmouth Park Neighbourhood Plan (made by Camden, 2 March 2020)

First comes a measured survey and a condition schedule; then the design, the consents it needs and a priced specification.

Structure, roof and drainage go first, then services, then plaster and joinery, then decoration, with each stage signed off before the next begins.

At handover the client receives the drawings, the certificates and a record of every material used in the house.