DCL Seeks Development Partner for Kenwood House Stables
October 15, 2012
English Heritage plans to open the historic stable block at Kenwood House, it announced this week as it started the search for a partner to secure the buildings long-term future. With Kenwood House and the Kenwood Dairy due to reopen in autumn 2013 following the Caring for Kenwood programme of repairs, the opening of the Kenwood Stables would mean that for the first time, the whole of the Kenwood Estate would be open to the public.
The Grade II Kenwood Stables block is currently largely unused and requires significant investment to bring the building back into general use. From next week, English Heritage will be seeking a commercial partner to transform Kenwood Stables into a new space for both the local community and other visitors to Kenwood. A variety of appropriate uses will be considered, but English Heritage is particularly keen to receive business proposals for a local farm or lifestyle shop with a complimentary food offer. Given Kenwood Houses importance, any change will be one that respects both the House and the Estates history. All proposals will be carefully assessed for their suitability in planning and conservation terms, and also to ensure that they dont copy any existing facilities.
Alex Sydney, English Heritages Head of Historic Properties in London, said: We are committed to opening the Kenwood Stables to the public. We want to create a space where visitors to Kenwood can relax and enjoy themselves and we are now looking for a partner to help us deliver this vision. It is too early to talk about exactly when the stables will open to the public, but we hope it will happen sometime in 2014, and this is the first step in that direction. The repair and transformation of the Kenwood Stables will mean that for the very first time, the whole of the estate will be open to the public. To put it simply, this project is the final piece in the Kenwood jigsaw.
The Kenwood Stables were built between 1794 and 1796 to the designs of the architect George Saunders as part of a wider re-modelling of the Kenwood Estate. It has been largely out of public use for many years.
English Heritage is already working closely with Camden Council and other regulatory bodies to ensure that the eventual transformation of the Kenwood Stables is one which benefits the users of the Kenwood Estate and local residents.
