Design Statement in Relation to Works @ Wattstown Hotel

Design Statement In relation to works @ Wattstown Hotel Aberllechau Road Porth Mid Glamorgan CF39 0PB EM Architecture Limited Index 1. Location & Listing 2. Design Statement. Location Situated on the NW boundary of the community, on the bank of the Rhondda Fach with Wattstown rising steeply above on the hill to the north. History c1900. Hotel built to serve the community of Wattstown which developed round the National Colliery sunk in 1881. The hotel appears not to have been functioning by the time of the 1891 census; a Goods Station for the Taff Vale Railway was formerly close by. Exterior Of coursed rockfaced sandstone with yellow brick dressings and chimneys with yellow pots, Welsh slate roof with formerly end stacks, 1 now missing, and 1 centre front: rendered to side. A three storey plain rectangular building. Five window range of; on first floor, 4 pane margin glazed sashes with decorative yellow brick surrounds and stone keystones and flush sills, the spaces between sills interspersed with ventilator grilles; similar smaller windows above; ground floor has mainly 8 pane sashes with glazing bars of unequal thickness and centre right a cambered arched doorway with 4 panelled margin glazed door and engraved glass overlight 'The Wattstown Hotel'. Side right rendered with 1 small margin glazed light and 1 inserted later; side left has a 2 window range of mostly margin glazed horned sashes with central doorway with renewed door; shallow rendered rear 3 and 2 storey cross wing. Interior Mostly retains original layout with central hall and staircase and many furnishings including shutters, moulded door surrounds, 4 panelled doors, glazed swing doors, some dado rails, ceiling mouldings and black marble fireplace. Listed Listed as a scarce example of a mainly unaltered colliery hotel of simple but generously proportioned design built to serve a small late C19 mining community. Reference Lewis E D, The Rhondda Valleys, 1959, p 103; 1891 census. Design Statement The main design intent is to sympathetically restore the former public house / hotel, & bring it into use. The building is currently continuing to deteriorate, and is in a poor state of disrepair. As a result of its periphery location, and a change in economic requirement, the building is no longer commercially viable as a Hotel or public house. After a considerable amount of dialogue with the local authority, the scheme was developed to split the three strorey building into four private dwellings, in such a way that the external appearance would remain unaltered. The internal space planning has been designed to have as little impact upon the existing buildings proportions and room arrangement as feasibly possible, whilst creating four private dwellings, all of which will have one allocated parking space and an external private amenity space. .

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