A fire on Friday 10th July at 76 Dean Street resulted in the tragic loss of one of London’s finest Georgian townhouse interiors. This was a Soho mansion of the highest quality (listed Grade II*) with superb joinery and wall-paintings of national importance. The fire appears to have started in an air-conditioning unit - a dramatic example of the heavy burden put on historic buildings by conversion to office use. Modern offices make considerable demands on old buildings – as well as cabling and air-conditioning floors need to strengthened and fire escapes installed.
Soho retains a good quantity of excellent Georgian houses and those in best condition, and most intact, are usually in residential use. We urge the local authority to encourage more residential conversions of Soho’s historic building stock in order to help safeguard these precious survivals and avoid disasters such as yesterday’s fire.
