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CASE STUDY · APPROVED

Timber window and door replacement in a conservation area flat

Greenwood Road, Dalston · London Borough of Hackney

A full planning application to replace a front single-glazed sash with a matching double-glazed timber sash, replace a rear window with white-painted hardwood French doors, infill a rear basement door and reconfigure a two-bedroom basement and ground-floor flat. We prepared the heritage statement and design and access statement alongside the drawings.

Existing rear elevation and lower-level courtyard (site photographs)
Existing rear elevation and lower-level courtyard (site photographs)

The site

The flat occupies the basement and ground floor of a nineteenth-century terraced building in the Graham Road and Mapledene Conservation Area. The building is not statutorily or locally listed and no Article 4 Direction was identified. The street is characterised by London stock brick, white stucco dressings, timber sash windows and basement areas.

The challenge

The conservation area appraisal identifies uPVC and aluminium window replacements as a weakness, so any change visible from the street had to replicate the existing timber sash. The rear alterations had to remain subordinate to the host building, and the internal changes needed to keep safe escape routes and leave the flat no less accessible than before.

What was submitted

  1. Heritage StatementAssessed the significance of the conservation area, drawing on the 1831, 1870 and 1894 mapping and the appraisal, and concluded that both the front sash replacement and the rear French doors would have a neutral effect, with no harm, provided the joinery details are secured by condition.
  2. Design and Access StatementSet out a condition-ready materials schedule: a white-painted timber double-glazed sliding sash matching the existing glazing-bar pattern, frame profile and reveal depth, with no visible trickle vents, and no uPVC, aluminium or composite substitutes. It recorded the kitchen growing from 11.1 sq m to 16.1 sq m and a 1.1 sq m store becoming a WC, with no increase in bedrooms.
  3. Existing and proposed rear elevationsShowed the rear window replaced by double-leaf hardwood French doors with upper double-glazed panes and lower solid timber panels, and an existing basement door opening bricked up and finished to match the rear elevation.
  4. Existing and proposed section A-AShowed the under-stairs basement space converted to a boot and cloak store and the ground-floor storage converted to a WC with a relocated door, with no change to the building envelope.
  5. Site photographsRecorded the front and rear elevations and the lower-level rear courtyard affected by the works.

Outcome

Planning permission was approved by the London Borough of Hackney on 16 September 2026.

From the reports

Existing and proposed rear elevations showing the new French doors (rear elevations drawing)
Existing and proposed rear elevations showing the new French doors (rear elevations drawing)
Existing and proposed section A-A showing the internal reconfiguration (section A-A drawing)
Existing and proposed section A-A showing the internal reconfiguration (section A-A drawing)

Images and findings are taken from the documents submitted with the planning application. The full application is available on the council's planning register.

YOUR NEXT STEP

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