Belsize Fire Station

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.

Belsize Fire Station
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
Coordinates51.5453°N 0.1801°W / 51.5453; -0.1801
Construction started1912
Technical details
MaterialBrick

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. "Belsize Fire Station". Historic England. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. "Tate Harmer converts Grade II*-listed former fire station into housing". Architects' Journal. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  3. 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. "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. "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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