Planners have labelled a scheme to convert a former car workshop in Twickenham into two new homes "unsympathetic and incongruous".

Richmond Council has thrown out an application to convert the 19th century building on the corner of Chapel Road and Orleans Road into two, two-bedroom homes.

Plans said the "tired and dated" buidling - which had been used for storage since the turn of the 21st century - has been vacant since 2020, and the owners had been unable to find a new business to take it over.

A report from a local estate agent included in the application said there were no takers for the "well hidden" site, despite it being "promoted for numerous potential occupiers".

But council planners said not enough evidence had been provided to support this.

"The scheme, by reason of the loss of an existing B8 industrial unit and in the absence of robust and compelling evidence that clearly demonstrates that there is no longer a demand for an industrial based use in this location and that there is not likely to be in the foreseeable future, or a sequentially preferable employment generating or community use, would reduce employment opportunities within the locality contrary to the aims of the council's employment policies," a council report said.

It also criticised the design of the proposed new homes.

"The combined extensions and alterations, by reason of their siting, scale and design, would result in significant alteration creating an unsympathetic and incongruous form of development that harms the character and proportions of the host building and fails to preserve or enhance the setting, character and appearance of the Twickenham Riverside conservation area," the report added.

An artist's impression of the proposed new homes (image via planning application)

According to the plans, the building was once home to the Orleans Motor Car Company.

It says an Orleans Motor Company brochure shows a 1907 car, built at The Orleans Works. 

And the application says the new homes would have kept in mind the historical and architectural significance of the site.

"The proposed application has been driven by the families desire to breathe new life into a vacant warehouse, restore a cherished building to active use and ultimately create a building that far better suits the prevailing residential character of the area," the application said.

It added: "Alterations to the exterior of the building have been sensitively considered. 

"The architectural language of the proposed detailing has been heavily influenced by the surrounding context, rich with texture."

See the full application here.