Bentley Priory consists of a Grade II* listed house and registered park and garden spread over 56.6 acres near Stanmore, London. Originally built in 1766 and entirely remodelled by Sir John Soane, the house was altered in the nineteenth century and went on to be used as an RAF base, serving as the Headquarters for Fighter Command between 1936 and 1968. The site has now been decommissioned and Nigel Anderson of Robert Adam Architects was asked to develop proposals for its redevelopment, providing a museum and 8 high quality apartments within the historic mansion, as well as 95 new residential units in the grounds on the site of several disused RAF structures.

The high quality museum and education facility will utilise the main historic rooms of the house and will include the restoration of some of the eighteenth and nineteenth century architectural features that were lost as a result of two fires in 1947 and 1979. In addition, the unsympathetic alterations made during the 1950s will be removed, alongside the reinstatement of traditional sash windows, balconies and other decorative features. The high quality apartments will occupy the remaining, less historically significant areas of the mansion, making effective use of the space whilst requiring only discrete alterations that do not unduly affect the fabric of the building.

The design and layout of the residential development within the grounds has been informed by the historic landscape context and the architecture of Soane’s Mansion House, respecting the setting of the listed building. Following Soane’s lead, the new buildings use brickwork in a restrained and consciously ‘primitive’ manner to create simple building details and pared back classical forms that echo the surviving mansion as well as other examples of Soane’s estate buildings. The units will incorporate very high standards of building design and materials and important features of the historic landscape will be restored, creating attractive routes for residents and visitors through the grounds.

The masterplan is a sensitive, high quality and carefully researched proposal that will enhance the character and architectural merits of the building, whilst making excellent use of this internationally significant heritage asset in a sustainable manner. Planning permission was granted in July 2008.