Councillors order action after historic plaster ceilings destroyed
11/02/10
Fine plasterwork ceilings dating from the late 18th or early 19th century have been destroyed during the renovation of a listed Aberdeen building.
Members of the city council's Development Management Sub-committee unanimously agreed that enforcement action should be taken against developer Stewart Property Services Ltd when they considered the firms application for retrospective planning permission.
The building, Victoria Court, on the city's Castle Street, was historically used as assembly rooms and latterly as storage for an adjacent bank. It lay vacant for a decade and deteriorated into a poor state of repair.
The interior has recently been converted to serviced apartments, but the developer has breached the planning permission and listed building consent which had been granted in 2007. That permission allowed the developer to make alterations to the building to form nine bedrooms.
Permission had initially been sought to create 15 bedrooms, but the plans were amended to retain the principal rooms on the first and second floor as a seating area/coffee room/games area and residents' meeting room. The approved plans showed the rooms retained in their entirety.
The amendments were made following Historic Scotland's advice that the rooms and the original entrance door were the principal features of the listed building.
The property was examined in 2007 by a historic buildings inspector, who stated that the plasterwork ceilings, which were probably original to the building's late 18th century build date or early 19th century remodelling, were in good condition.
The inspector commented that: "the ceilings could be the best of their period in Aberdeen and although there may be grander, more elaborate ceilings in some of the theatres and public buildings in the city, these are generally much later in date than Victoria Court."
Planning officers became aware that unauthorised internal work had been carried out on the property. The two principal rooms had been split into bedrooms and lowered ceilings were installed with sprinkler systems in between.
The plaster ceiling on the first floor survives in part behind the false ceiling, but the second historic ceiling has been completely removed.
The developer told planners that when renovations got underway, the building's interior was found to be badly affected by dry and wet rot, requiring costly and extensive repair work.
He also stated that it was "financially imperative" for his business to have consent granted for 15 bedrooms instead of the nine which were previously approved.
Councillors agreed yesterday that the following enforcement action should be taken against the developer:
•the internal partitions on the first and second floors are to be removed;
•the rooms are to be re-instated to their original proportions;
•the original features are to be restored and, where those features are missing they are to be reinstated or replaced them with features which match the surviving features, in a scheme which must be approved by the planning authority;
•the first floor ceiling should be revealed and restored and the plasterwork should be reinstated to match the original pattern, in a scheme which must be approved by the planning authority;
•the second floor ceiling should be reinstated to match the original pattern, in a scheme which must be approved by the planning authority.
Convener Kate Dean said: "Riding roughshod over planning permission and destroying historically important parts of listed buildings is completely unacceptable.
"This is a particularly sad case, which has seen the city lose quite probably the best example of decorative plasterwork for that era.
"I look forward to seeing the developer's proposals to reinstate these features to their former glory."