Project Name: RAC Club, Pall Mall

Type of Project: Historic Context Appraisal, Significance Appraisal and PPG 15 Justification Statement

Date: July 2007

Client: Royal Automobile Club

Architect: EPR Architects

Planning: The London Planning Practice

Special Interest: The RAC Club is a Grade II* listed six-storey building on Pall Mall, in the St. James area of Westminster. Mewes and Davis built the subject building between 1908 and 1911; since then, it has been upgraded and refurbished many times. Its design is an evident homage to the Hôtel de Crillon in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, the home of the Automobile Club de France. As a piece of structural engineering it is of particular interest for it is one of the earliest steel framed buildings in London. Development of the structural form of this type of building was quite rapid in the first quarter of the 20th century.

Scope of Professional Services:
Heritage Architecture Ltd were commissioned to undertake the following:

• HISTORIC CONTEXT APPRAISAL: Heritage Architecture Ltd were commissioned to undertake historic research and compile background information regarding the RAC Club. Heritage Architecture also carried out an appraisal of significance in accordance with the Communities and Local Government Circular 01/2007, Revisions to Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings.

• SCHEDULE OF SIGNIFICANCE: Heritage Architecture Ltd undertook a site inspection of the building, a room-by-room identification of significant features and an appraisal of the building’s special interest.

• PPG 15 JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT:  A Justification Statement was formulated to accompany applications for Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent. The statement highlighted areas of potential or actual effects likely to result from the proposed interventions with particular regard to the interior features of special interest.