Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council

Trees and the Public Realm (Draft) Appendix B - 17
9 Moderation Victorian Stucco terraces and squares
History
Victorian Stucco terraces and squares characterise Belgravia, Bayswater, Westbourne and Pimlico. These four
conservation areas, dispersed across Westminster, represent a comparatively short phase of development,
between 1830 (Belgravia) and 1870 (the completion of Pimlico). At the time these areas were planned and
constructed they represented an increasing suburbanisation around existing neighbourhoods – Westbourne
and Bayswater to the west of the great Georgian Marylebone estates, Belgravia to the south west of oldestablished
Mayfair, and Pimlico on reclaimed riverside marshland south of Smith Square and Victoria.
Urban character
The characteristics that these four districts share are that they were all laid out to a masterplan, rather than
developing piecemeal over time. They all show the prevailing fashion, established in the Georgian period, for
classical revival architecture, expressed for the most part as full or half stucco treatment to brick buildings.
Classical details such as rustication, pedimented windows and columned porches form the language of the
facades; window size and arrangement, door openings and column proportion all determined by classical
proportions, while being applied to the terraced building form, unknown in the classical period. In some cases
terraces have central and wing pavilions to emulate larger palaces.
The four ‘stucco’ districts are thus characterised by long and uninterrupted views of formal architecture,
notable for a consistency of form and a repetition of detail. The long, unbroken parapets, regular porches and
alternating pediment forms make this a form of architecture best appreciated as whole, rather than as
individual examples or as seen in glimpses.
Trees
The use of planting in the historic, planned layout of these areas was restricted to the large, formal squares,
and in some instances to the grander avenues. This clear and sharp separation of green spaces from
buildings and streets contributes significantly to the ‘urban’ character of these areas. Unfortunately
indiscriminate planting on build-outs in the 1960’s eroded this character. A compromise now needs to be
struck between the introduction/retention of trees into these streets, and an ability to appreciate the
architectural intention, and trees at road junctions only would seem to meet both objectives to an extent.
London Plane is the chief species among these formal planting schemes – the large size of the squares
means that large tree species can be accommodated happily, without either disrupting or overshadowing the
very formal architecture of the surrounding buildings. Thus the squares became the green lungs of an
otherwise hard urban landscape – the dense greenery of the tree canopy often visible in long views down
approaching streets. Those planted at road junctions should be less dominant, with silver birch, rowan or
perhaps redwood being appropriate.
The buildings in these areas are generally provided with rear gardens. Where private trees in rear gardens are
visible from the street they make a positive contribution to the greening of the townscape, and do so without
compromising the architectural form.
In Pimlico (as well as in other neighbourhoods) there is a characteristic townscape gap at the corners of street
blocks. The presence of a rear garden to the principal terrace is expressed architecturally as single storey
development on the return elevation. This ‘Pimlico Gap’ was incorporated not only to articulate the different
terraces, but also to provide for the circulation of air to the rear of the terraces. These gaps now often provide
a glimpse of greenery in rear gardens – an important feature of these areas.