Buxton Crescent Hotel and Thermal Spa

Buxton Crescent
Hotel and
Thermal Spa
A Grade I Listed building in Buxton Derbyshire
designed by architect John Carr and built for the
fifth Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish
between 1780 and 1789. The aim was to
establish Buxton as a fashionable Georgian Spa
town due to the natural warm springs found in the
region, namely St. Ann’s well opposite the
building which has flowed for thousands of years.
The façade forms an arc originally built to house
a hotel, 5 lodging houses and a grand assembly
room. The ground floor was meant for shops such
as wig makers, where the basement forms the
kitchens.
Phase one commenced in the summer of 2012
after many delays involving issues such as
funding technical and legal matters due to the
underground mineral water supply beneath the
crescent buildings. Estimated at £35 million the
project is set to provide a 79-bedroom 5-star
hotel, natural baths, a visitor interpretation centre,
a thermal mineral water spa and specialist shops
and is set for completion in 2015.
During this phase Aura carried out alterations to
the rear of the building infilling original arched
door openings to create windows and forming
new windows where once doorways had
existed. Once weathered, the end result will
offer no evidence of the original openings and
will give the appearance of continuity. During
the works a number of outbuildings were
carefully dismantled and the reclaimed stone
was re-dressed in order to be incorporated into
the aforementioned infill works.
Across the forecourt of The Crescent is the
Pump Room (1894). This building required
cleaning due to years of algae build up and a
DOFF steam process was carefully carried out.
Much of this stone had become porous and had
to be de-scaled due to lamination. Again,
original door openings and window openings
were altered and seamlessly infilled and
created.
Internally the plaster walls of the Pump Room
needed much of the friable plaster cutting away
and defective areas removing due to water
ingress damage. The walls were then treated
with algaecide spray prior to lime re-plastering.
Project Name:
Buxton Crescent Hotel
& Thermal Spa
Completion Date: June 2013
www.auraltd.co.uk
Value:
£200K
Aura Conservation Limited, Dunham House,
181 Wellington Road North, Stockport,
Cheshire SK4 2PB
Owner/Client:
Audley
T: 0161 442 9850
Main Contractor:
Vinci Construction
Architect:
Stride Treglown
F: 0161 432 8478