Plans in for thorough refurbishment of Windsor Royal

A raft of changes is proposed to protect and preserve the Jubilee Arch and other elements at Windsor Royal Station.

Windsor and Eton Station, including Windsor Royal Station, is a Grade II listed building.

The Royal Station was originally built for the exclusive use of the Royal Family.

It now offers more than 40 shops and a wide range of continental style restaurants, cafés and bars.

UREF LP, a Private Fund Limited Partnership, is now looking for Listed Building Consent to make repairs and restorations.

LBC is special permission needed for when a structure is of great historical interest.

UREF LP also sought permission for a partial re-development of Windsor Yards, formerly known as King Edward Court, in 2023.

History

Prior to the construction of the first railway station in Windsor around 1845, the area is recorded as being a Victorian ‘slum’.

Windsor and Eton Central Station was reconstructed between 1890 and 1897 with its grand entrance facing onto Thames Street.

Various railway structures, including a Goods Shed and the Queen’s Waiting Room, were constructed to serve three railway tracks.

The station incorporates some significant Victorian architectural features, including the ornate arched entrance and the station’s large segmental glazed girder roof supported on decorative iron columns.

It has some surviving interiors of special interest, including the Royal Waiting Room and the booking office, containing historic ticket stands.

Proposed work

The proposal includes work to the roof of the station and other buildings attached to and adjacent to it.

The roof is divided into different structures which have been periodically repaired and replaced since their original construction.

Since the building was first listed in 1975, there is ‘no evidence’ of any comprehensive repair and refurbishment exercise.

The ‘new’ central roof over the main concourse is assumed to date from the 1997 redevelopment into its modern form.

Proposals also incorporate the cleaning and repair of the textured Georgian wired glazing. New glazing is proposed to match the old.

Below are some of the proposed works to key areas within the station area.

• Royal Parade

There is a small build-up of soiling and debris, as well as debris build up to rainwater outlets. Several units have suffered roof leaks.

The timber joinery along the Royal Parade units to the first floor are ‘in poor condition.’

Decorations have not been renewed and timber substrate is now exposed vulnerable to weather and rot.

• Jubilee Canopy

There are multiple cracked Georgian wired glazing panels. Some of the glazing bars are loose.

The cladding to the lower segments of the roof has not been cleaned or refurbished and the plastisol finish is beginning to fail.

Timber elements are degraded and, in some areas, rotten.

• Station Masters House

The roof lantern is in poor condition, with degraded decorations, cracked glazing panes, weathered lead detailing and rotten timber elements.

There are cracked Georgian wired glazing panels and some of the glazing bars are loose.

There are areas of slipped, missing or cracked slates and there is a build-up of debris and soiling within the valley gutters.

Timber joinery to windows and associated fixed metalwork are in poor condition within the elevations of the Station Master’s House.

Decorations have not been renewed and timber and metal substrates are now exposed to weather and vulnerable to rot.

Existing paintwork is UV degraded and is peeling in areas.

• Mall Canopy

This is the most degraded portion of the site, with water leaks on most occasions during wet weather.

This roof is considered to be an original structure – but has been poorly re-clad in the more recent past.

Rainwater goods are broken, holding water and debris. There are a multitude of cracked/damaged Georgian wired glazing panels and some of the glazing bars are loose.

• North Station

The roof lanterns are in poor condition, with degraded decorations, cracked glazing panes, weathered lead detailing and rotten timber elements.

There are damaged Georgian wired glazing panels and areas of slipped, missing or cracked slates. There is a build-up of debris and soiling.

The fall protection system is ‘not fit for purpose’ and is currently ‘not safe access to the roof areas’ for maintenance.

A heritage report prepared by Lichfields heritage specialists on behalf of UREF LP reads:

"As a whole the proposed glazing works have been sensitively designed and propose methods which would preserve the existing structures wherever possible.

Overall, the proposals would only affect the roof level and upper floor windows of the site ‘which make a limited contribution to the special interest of the listed building.’

“The proposed works would repair and restore damaged areas of the building thereby improving the aesthetic and material quality as a whole,” Lichfields wrote.

“The works will also serve to protect the longer-term future of the building by preventing further potential damage to its special interest.”

24/03115/LBC