{"id":777767,"date":"2025-03-10T10:07:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T10:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=777767"},"modified":"2025-03-11T10:55:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T10:55:35","slug":"allies-and-morrison-wins-approval-for-contentious-clandon-house-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/allies-and-morrison-wins-approval-for-contentious-clandon-house-proposal","title":{"rendered":"Allies and Morrison wins approval for contentious Clandon House proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The council voted to approve the architect\u2019s plans for Clandon House, a National Trust property near Guildford in Surrey, on Thursday (6 March).<\/p>\n

The approval comes despite a major recent backlash<\/a> from traditionalists over the plans to preserve the 18th-century Palladian mansion as a fire-damaged \u2018shell\u2019. Classical architect Francis Terry accused the National Trust of an \u2018act of barbarism\u2019 against the Grade I-listed building.<\/p>\n

But councillors praised the proposal for its major public benefits, including changes that \u2018make [the building] accessible to everyone\u2019 following the tragedy of the fire that destroyed it.<\/p>\n

One councillor said that while the vote was not \u2018an easy decision\u2019, he was \u2018quite excited at seeing a building stripped back \u2013 I do think that\u2019s something different that can attract visitors and show something different\u2019.<\/p>\n

The stately home has sat in its current state since 2015<\/a>, when a devastating fire, likely caused<\/a> by an electrical fault, tore through the building destroying all but one room.<\/p>\n

The National Trust had originally planned to rebuild and restore Clandon Park, to a competition-winning design by Allies and Morrison, but u-turned on the proposal in 2022,<\/a> with Allies and Morrison continuing to lead on the new design. A National Trust spokesperson put the change down to \u2018a process of detailed feasibility with our design team\u2019.<\/p>\n

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Planning officers had recommended the latest scheme for approval, concluding that it caused \u2018less than substantial\u2019 harm to Clandon\u2019s heritage, while preserving and restoring \u2018important features\u2019 such as windows, fa\u00e7ades, and a roof.<\/p>\n

The local planning authority concluded that the proposal would ensure the stately home could maintain its \u2018optimal viable use\u2019 as a much-visited cultural attraction, with new public benefits including accessibility, roof access, and the opportunity to learn about the historic construction of country houses.<\/p>\n

The planning permission is subject to referral to the secretary of state for secondary approval, as well as completion of a Section 106 legal agreement including provision of biodiversity net gain and contribution towards a long-term \u2018sustainable’ travel strategy for the site.<\/p>\n

Kent Rawlinson, curatorial and creative director of the Clandon Park project for the National Trust, said the organisation is ‘thrilled’ with the approval.<\/p>\n

Rawlinson said Guildford Council’s decision is ‘a huge step forward in bringing the house at Clandon back to life as a beautiful, surprising and thought-provoking place that celebrates its many, layered histories \u2013 including those of the many people who made and crafted it.’<\/p>\n

Oliver Heywood, director at Allies and Morrison, added: ‘Clandon\u2019s fire deeply affected a place cherished by many. Our proposals – informed through extensive research and public consultation – will revive Clandon as a dynamic, fully functioning public building, embracing its fire-altered form to tell its remarkable stories.’<\/p>\n

In November, submission of the planning application for the now-approved design triggered a major backlash from Classicists, which became the forefront of a major dispute<\/a> within the National Trust.<\/p>\n

The Restore Trust \u2013 a group of activists within the heritage organisation \u2013 accused it of a \u2018tragic dereliction of duty\u2019 by refusing to restore the mansion.<\/p>\n

The protestors claimed the National Trust was failing to preserve its historic buildings in favour of \u2018modish, divisive ideologies\u2019.<\/p>\n

The trust, however, has argued that the \u2018sensitive contemporary design\u2019 of the light-touch proposals has received an \u2018overwhelmingly positive\u2019 public response, and will \u2018bring Clandon Park back to life as a welcoming, engaging and fully functional house’ and \u2018create an exciting new chapter in [the building\u2019s] history\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Allies and Morrison\u2019s latest plans (Nov 2024) for Clandon Park House in Surrey \u2013 walkways for displays and viewing<\/p>\n\t

Source:Allies and Morrison (taken from planning documents)<\/p><\/div>\n

In a design and access (D&A) statement, Allies and Morrison said its proposal, which includes events space and walkways allowing views of Clandon\u2019s scorched interiors, \u2018celebrates the beauty of the building that survived\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

It said the design would display the building\u2019s \u2018visually dramatic and historically intriguing\u2019 fire-damaged interiors while allowing visitors to learn the story of how it was designed, built and crafted over the centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed scheme would renew the house as a \u2018fully functioning building\u2019, explained the architects, with a new roof, windows, heating and structural repairs to conserve the surviving house, including its Speakers\u2019 Parlour. Furniture and artworks would be returned to the house to form new displays.<\/p>\n

Interior walkways and a new public roof terrace \u2018will enable new ways of seeing and encountering <\/span>the house that actively reveal its historic and architectural significance <\/span>and enhance its visual drama\u2019, the practice added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Clandon Park House, Surrey, before the 2015 fire which badly damaged it<\/p>\n\t

Source:Jim Linwood creative commons<\/p><\/div>\n

Allies and Morrison was appointed in 2017<\/a> to lead the rebuild, following a star-studded contest run by Malcolm Reading Consultants. The top five AJ100 practice selected specialist Purcell to offer conservation design support.<\/p>\n

The first phase of construction works, repairing exterior walls and stonework, is expected to cost up to \u00a320 million.<\/p>\n

Clandon Park was built in the 1720s by Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni and left to the National Trust in 1956.<\/p>\n