By John Baron
Empty houses in Horsforth could be demolished to make way for a two-storey office block.
Financial advisers Bartlett Group wants to expand its Broadway Hall headquarters by building the new office block in the area currently occupied by seven houses empty off Bank Avenue, which have been bought by the company.
A design statement submitted with the planning application states: “The business is close to outgrowing the current accommodation and therefore in order to futureproof the office and business the applicant is seeking to extend the current accommodation.”
The proposals introduce improved parking and circulation with enhanced landscape and boundary conditions to Bank Avenue and the creation of a new landscaped amenity space to enhance the setting at the front of Broadway Hall.
“The proposed building provides an active glazed frontage to Broadway with a pitched roof to the front and a second pitched roof to the rear with a flat roof section between, above the office amenity space,” the design statement added.
The applicant says some of the houses to be demolished are now in a poor condition.
Access to the site is from the south-west corner via Broadway.
Broadway Hall itself dates from 1805 and was originally constructed as a residential property, but has been in use as offices for a number of years and in 1966 Bartlett Insurance took ownership. Several extensions have been made to the main building over the years.
The plans can be viewed in full here.