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. It is located at the junction between Eton Avenue and Lancaster Grove.
| Belsize Fire Station | |
|---|---|
 Belsize Fire Station in 2005 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type |
|
| Architectural style | Arts and Crafts style |
| Classification | Grade II* |
| Location | Belsize Park, London Borough of Camden |
| Town or city | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°32′43″N 0°09′58″W / 51.54534°N 0.16610°W |
| Construction started | 1912 |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Brick |
History edit
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 edit
- ^ a b c d "Belsize Fire Station". Historic England. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b English Heritage/London Fire Brigade (March 2010). "London's historic fire stations" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2020.
- ^ Reading, Billy (April 2017). Fire Stations. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445665832.
- ^ a b "Mystery over secret £20m-plus deal to buy Belsize Fire Station building". Hampstead & Highgate Express. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ Buch, Chris (September 2011). Hello Sunshine: A Blitz Kid's Journey to the Sunshine State. Xlibris. p. 119. ISBN 9781462849888.
- ^ "A history of Belsize Fire Station: 1915-2014". Hampstead & Highgate Express. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Developers abandon social housing part of Belsize Fire Station conversion". Camden New Journal. 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ "Belsize Park sellers cut house prices to make a sale". Financial Times. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2020.