Belsize Fire Station is a former

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

that is now used for private housing. Built between 1912 and 1915, it is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and is situated in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

. It is located at the junction between

Eton Avenue Eton Avenue is a street in the Belsize Park area of Hampstead in North London. Located in the London Borough of Camden, it runs eastward from Swiss Cottage tube station to a junction with England's Lane, Primrose Hill Road and Belsize Park Ga ...

and Lancaster Grove.

History

Belsize Fire Station was designed by the architects Charles Winmill and Owen Fleming on behalf of

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, and built between 1912 and 1915 to replace a previous fire station in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

. It is built in

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

style, in the style of an artist's studio. The building is made of brick with a flint roof, and contains glazed brick arches. The original building contained one bedroom apartments used to house firefighters, as well as a recreation room and separate

billiard room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be use ...

. Belsize Fire Station covers an area of . In 1974 it became a Grade II*

. The Fire Station was in

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

zone A, which went as far as

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. Fire crews from Belsize Fire Station were involved in the aftermath of the 1987

King's Cross fire The King's Cross fire occurred in 1987 at King's Cross St Pancras tube station in London, England, causing 31 fatalities. It began under a wooden escalator before spreading into the ticket hall in a flashover. The fire began at approximately ...

, the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

, and a 2012 fire in the Taplow Block of flats. The fire station was closed in 2014; it was one of nine fire stations in Greater London closed in that year due to budget cuts. In 2015, the building was sold for £20 million to an unknown buyer. In 2017, planning permission was given to convert Belsize Fire Station into 18 private flats, two of which had to be used for

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

. The social housing requirement was abandoned in 2020, and the building is now used for energy-efficient luxury flats. The price of the flats ranged from £750,000 to £1.7 million.

References

{{reflist 1915 establishments in England Fire stations completed in 1915 Defunct fire stations in the United Kingdom Arts and Crafts architecture in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Grade II* listed houses in London Grade II* listed fire stations Belsize Park Swiss Cottage