During the renovation of a basement duplex apartment in a prime residential street in Clifton, Berkeley Place made an unusual discovery. PHPD reports.
In WW2, not least due to the presence of the Bristol Harbour and The Bristol Aeroplane Company in Filton, the city of Bristol was a target for bombing. Easily found as enemy aircraft were able to trace a course up the River Avon from Avonmouth, Bristol was the fifth most heavily bombed British city of the war.
Between November 24th 1940 and 11th April 11th 1941, there were six major bombing raids on the city; and like many urban dwellers, the population moved underground to seek safety from the Nazi onslaught.
In Royal York Crescent, the basement of the duplex was converted to a bomb shelter – during which time the occupants recorded a log of the raids they endured on the wall – which became neglected and overlooked after peace was restored.
This forlorn testament to our finest hour lay forgotten until it came to Berkeley Place to renovate the flat on this striking Georgina terrace. The historic shelter was rediscovered and given a new lease of life to make it liveable again.
Overall, the Grade II listed building has had a full refurbishment of the front terrace, living room, hallway, kitchen, utility, dining, bedroom and a master ensuite – with a Crittall-style terrace. The feel of the project is bringing the old into the new and cleverly designing the small space to feel larger. Creating more space in the home was a challenge which was overcome with clever storage.
The whole apartment has a new warmth with new timber and underfloor heating. To mix old with new, a variety of suppliers were used such as Howdens and Farrow & Ball. The tiling came from Mandarin stone, wallpaper is Harlequin Salon Wallpaper and the steel fenestration was supplied by Fabco.
A Chelford navy customised kitchen was installed along with quartz worktops, classic fusion square patinated brass hot taps from Quooker, parquet flooring and full height wall bookshelf – a feature also in the living room. In the dining room and hallway, new glazed metal framed doors and windows were installed, while the stairs were fitted with a curved timber handrail to the outer wall and cleaned sandstone flooring.
The basement was converted into a snug bedroom and bathroom. To create the snug there was a full renovation; and repairing and repointing of the stone flag flooring. The bedroom was cleverly subdivided to maximise use of space and provides two separate sleeping spaces.
