Belsize Fire Station

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Belsize Fire Station
Fire Station, Lancaster Grove and Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage - geograph.org.uk - 38268.jpg
Belsize Fire Station in 2005
General information
StatusComplete
Type
Architectural styleArts and Crafts style
ClassificationGrade II*
LocationBelsize Park, London Borough of Camden
Town or cityLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates51°32′43″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5453°N 0.1801°W / 51.5453; -0.1801Coordinates: 51°32′43″N 0°10′48″W / 51.5453°N 0.1801°W / 51.5453; -0.1801
Construction started1912
Technical details
MaterialBrick

Belsize Fire Station is a former fire station that is now used for private housing. Built between 1912 and 1915, it is a Grade II* listed building, and is situated in the London Borough of Camden.

History[]

Belsize Fire Station was designed by the architects Charles Winmill and Owen Fleming[1] on behalf of London County Council,[2] and built between 1912 and 1915 to replace a previous fire station in St John's Wood.[1] It is built in Arts and Crafts style,[2] in the style of an artist's studio.[3] The building is made of brick with a flint roof,[1] and contains glazed brick arches.[4] The original building contained one bedroom apartments used to house firefighters,[2] as well as a recreation room and separate billiard room.[3]

Belsize Fire Station covers an area of 0.44 acres (19,000 sq ft).[5] In 1974 it became a Grade II* listed building.[1] The Fire Station was in London Fire Brigade zone A, which went as far as Westminster and Hammersmith.[6] Fire crews from Belsize Fire Station were involved in the aftermath of the 1987 King's Cross fire, the 7 July 2005 London bombings, and a 2012 fire in the Taplow Block of flats.[7]

The fire station was closed in 2014;[2] it was one of nine fire stations in Greater London closed in that year due to budget cuts.[8] In 2015, the building was sold for £20 million to an unknown buyer.[5] In 2017, planning permission was given to convert Belsize Fire Station into 18 private flats, two of which had to be used for social housing.[2][8][9] The social housing requirement was abandoned in 2020, and the building is now used for energy efficient luxury flats.[2][8] The price of the flats ranged from £750,000 to £1.7 million.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Belsize Fire Station". Historic England. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Tate Harmer converts Grade II*-listed former fire station into housing". Architects' Journal. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b English Heritage/London Fire Brigade (March 2010). "London's historic fire stations" (PDF).
  4. ^ Reading, Billy (April 2017). Fire Stations. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445665832.
  5. ^ a b "Mystery over secret £20m-plus deal to buy Belsize Fire Station building". Hampstead & Highgate Express. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  6. ^ Buch, Chris (September 2011). Hello Sunshine: A Blitz Kid's Journey to the Sunshine State. Xlibris. p. 119. ISBN 9781462849888.
  7. ^ "A history of Belsize Fire Station: 1915-2014". Hampstead & Highgate Express. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d "Developers abandon social housing part of Belsize Fire Station conversion". Camden New Journal. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Belsize Park sellers cut house prices to make a sale". Financial Times. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
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