A fine mess
Former military buildings sold off as the armed forces modernise can be architectural gold dust to discerning developers, finds Lucy Denton
WE shape our buildings; thereafter our buildings shape us,’ declared Winston Churchill in 1943, insisting on the reconstruction of the bomb-damaged Commons Chamber to its ‘old form, convenience and dignity’. More than 20 years earlier, as Secretary of State for War, he was ensconced in the Old War Office on Whitehall, a stately edifice completed in 1906, sold off by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in 2016, and now being revitalised as top-notch apartments, restaurants and Raffles’s first flagship hotel in Britain—known as The OWO (Property comment, July 21, 2021).
As the armed forces modernise and outmoded property is unloaded from Government estates, what is superfluous to needs often translates as architectural treasure for the discerning developer. But there are many factors to consider, including condition, heritage designations, location, communal services, how recently it was mothballed, former use and existing monuments.
Living in a place with military provenance carries a certain cachet; 20 of the 85 apartments in The OWO, due to be completed in a few months’ time, have already sold. ‘It’s extraordinarily impressive,’ says Adam Simmonds of residential development sales at Savills. ‘There’s even an old spies’ entrance on Whitehall Court.’ T. E. Lawrence and Ian Fleming once walked the unusually wide corridors here, designed to accommodate a considerable workforce (which even included messengers on bicycles).
Much of the history of this Grade Ii*-listed building is shrouded in mystery, with whatever went on within its walls covered by the
Official Secrets Act. The OWO’S sensitive location also means that Westminster Development Services (founded in 2015 by the Hinduja Group) have had to work closely with the landlord, the MOD, which retains the freehold, as well as rights to the flagpole on the roof.
Ripe for rescuing, there are all sorts of military buildings—barracks, guard houses, Martello towers and batteries—on Historic England’s latest Heritage at Risk Register: rough-hewn Victorian Tregantle Fort in Cornwall, for example, or the neo-georgian 1930s airmen’s blocks at Biggin Hill in southeast London, vacated by the RAF in 1993. Hopefully, the resolve and patience required to take on a conversion is worth the effort.
‘It all depends on the type of building,’ explains Robin Stannard, historic building surveyor at Adam Architecture in Winchester, Hampshire, ‘and some suit domestic conversion very well, although some with very specific former uses can be a problem.’
‘Consider the fact that barracks are usually built in locations you wouldn’t normally find residential development,’ advises John
The important thing, continues Mr Sanderson, “is that the historic legacy of these places needs to be respected”
Fisher of Sotheby’s Realty, ‘and that wider facilities might not be available. Think about the type of structure, too. If it’s fortified, it’s probably going to be more difficult to make changes.’
Nick Sanderson, chief executive of the Audley Group, which acquired Headley Court, the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre sold in 2018, for a proposed family housing and retirement-village scheme, says development always depends on the previous use. It had ‘never had a combat or technological use,’ he notes, so had survived in a relatively unaltered state. The late-victorian house, built for the 1st Baron Cunliffe, governor of the Bank of England, was in decent condition as ‘it had been looked after by the officers. Most of the panelling was still there and it was on its original configuration. The MOD is extremely good at maintaining buildings.’ The important thing, continues Mr Sanderson, ‘is that the historic legacy of these places needs to be respected’.
Superlative examples currently on the market, in revamped state, include a fourbedroom townhouse in the Peninsula Barracks at Winchester— £1.75 million through Savills (01962 834057)—with its rich provenance as the site of Charles II’S incomplete palace by Sir Christopher Wren, later skilfully rebuilt as barracks in the early 20th century and sold by the MOD in 1994; its former parade ground is now a Versaillesesque formal garden with fountain.
Not only are these places fortified with impressive histories, but they are popular ‘because they usually haven’t suffered the vagaries of modernisation,’ notes Andrew Cronan, director at Strutt & Parker, ‘and because the surrounding land was controlled, the location is often a relatively unspoilt, rural spot’. As military conversions are increasingly desirable, why not steal a march and take one on?