Georgian Style - The characteristics of Georgian architecture

WOOLF Interior Architecture & Design have years of expertise, sensitively designing every aspect of commercial and residential interiors for traditional and historic buildings, in the UK and Internationally. We are acknowledged for our specialist skills designing for Grade I or II listed buildings and are accredited historic interior designers who have worked with several preservation trusts; English Heritage and consultants at Historic England. Explore WOOLF Historic Interiors.

Our Bath interior design studio is surrounded by magnificent examples of Georgian and Regency architecture.  It is a truly inspirational place to work. With all projects that WOOLF undertake, particularly those set in a Georgian property, great care is taken to ensure the proportions of the property, both interior and exterior, work together to create harmony.  Proportion and balance of a property’s architectural features were key to Georgian Architects.  The Georgians placed great emphasis on mathematical formulae to ensure the heights of windows and doors ‘fitted’ and looked right within the overall proportions of both a property’s exterior and interior.

Ditchley Park - Oxfordshire

 The key characteristics of a Georgian property are broadly as follows:

The Royal Crescent Bath

• Townhouses were arranged over three or four storeys.

• Sash windows with smaller panes – tall windows on the first two floors and smaller windows on the top storeys.

• Symmetrical flat exterior and a balanced interior layout.

• Stucco-fronted exterior, meaning it is rendered in a plaster material that covers the construction material beneath.

• In earlier Georgian designs, the ground floor was rendered and the rest of the exterior was exposed brickwork, while in the later Regency style, houses were rendered from top to bottom. 

• Render painted white or cream.

• Built around garden squares. The houses did not usually have their own gardens.

Outline Sketch for Regents Street - London

The Georgian Period

The Georgian period spans from 1714 to 1830 and what is considered the late Georgian period is from 1830 to 1837.  It covers the reign of George I to George IV which led to this particular era’s name.

Broadly speaking it covers the 18th century and is generally identified by very simple facades; buildings were designed in symmetry and often appeared quite plain. They were usually built with brick and stone and have sash windows.  Later examples were decorated with stucco on the top half of the building.

 The Georgian period covers over 100 years so as you might expect for such a length of time, there are many nuances found in the structures of the houses built over this period. Early in the 1700s buildings are simpler in design and decoration and typically get more ornate as the period progresses.  Explore WOOLF Historic Interiors.

Regents Street - London

The Georgian Architectural Legacy

Stretches far beyond the grand houses and impressive public buildings.  Many towns and cities through-out the United Kingdom today boast elegant rows of terraced houses built in what is referred to as ‘The Regency Style’.  Large swathes of London, including Regent Street, much of Bath and many of Great Britain’s seafront esplanades are all surviving examples of The Regency Style.  

By the time you get to the Regency period, typically the early 1800s when King George IV to-be was acting as The Prince Regent for his father, the houses are considerably more decorative, with ornate iron railings and more decorative details on the exterior. Inside, these properties have large rooms with high ceilings with some decorative features like ceiling roses and cornicing, which later heavily influences the Victorian period. Explore WOOLF Historic Interiors.

Georgian Properties 

Properties built in this period, like those by famous London architects such as John Nash – who designed the original Buckingham Palace – were built to be spacious and comfortable, with grand proportions and a heightened sense of space and light. This was in contrast to the smaller, darker architectural styles that preceded the Georgian era. 

It was typical in the Georgian era for the first and second floors of a house to be occupied by the owner and their family, while the staff lived on the top floors. This is why the rooms at the top of a Georgian house are typically smaller, with lower ceilings and smaller windows compared to the more elegant rooms at the bottom of the house. Kitchens were on the lower ground floor, away from the main house, as this was traditionally the servants’ domain.  

A Georgian Country House - Somerset

A Georgian Town House - Bath

The Regency Style Originated In Bath

John Wood the Elder (1704-1754) combined the Palladian style with his own ideas on town planning and designed and developed the new style which became known as The Regency Style.  It was seen to be very contemporary and fitted well with the Empire style of the time.  The two styles shared many of their features; they were both elaborate and ornate and they were both generally neoclassical with a generous borrowing of Greek and Egyptian motifs.  Other sources from around the world played their part in influencing the architectural changes seen at that time as well, including the near East, Middle East and Asia. Explore WOOLF Georgian Interiors in Bath .

The world-renowned Royal Crescent in Bath is probably the most photographed example of The Regency Style of Georgian architecture.  It was built between 1767-1775 by John Wood the Younger, who continued the architectural vision of his father; John Wood the Elder who built many notable residences such as Kelston Park near Bath in North East Somerset. It was intended to be one of the grandest houses in the county. The house has been designated as a Grade II* listed building. The gardens are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The Prince Regent

The Prince Regent procured the services of John Nash (1752-1835) who developed John Wood the Younger’s ideas and applied them in his own designs. This work began in earnest in 1810 and was to be a major project in town planning as he developed the route linking Regent’s Park to Carlton House. 

John Nash continued to serve as court architect for the Prince Regent and later when he became King George IV.  Nash designed many classically-influenced structures, including the terrace houses at Regent’s Park.  Part of this complex was Carlton House in London which was built in 1907.

Bedford Square -London

Terraced Georgian & Recency Town Houses 

The row style structures of these town houses had clean classical lines with unadorned arches and other understated elements.  Cumberland Terrace in London was one such terrace. This terrace was to stand opposite the Prince Regent’s proposed palace in the park and was therefore of particular importance in the scheme.  It was built by William Mountford Nurse, with James Thomson serving as resident architect, and was completed in 1826.  It consists of three main blocks, linked by decorative arches with typical neoclassical style and grandeur.

‘The Royal Pavilion’, also known as ‘The Brighton Pavilion’

The Royal Pavilion or Brighton Pavilion, as it is also known, is an excellent example of this influence. It was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for the Prince Regent.  It was built in the unique Indo Saracenic style prevalent in India for most of the 19th century. The current appearance of the Pavilion, with its domes and minarets, is the work of architect John Nash, who extended the building starting in 1815. The fanciful interior design, primarily by Frederick Crace and the little-known decorative painter Robert Jones, was heavily influenced by both Chinese and Indian fashion (with Mughal and Islamic architectural elements). It is a prime example of the exoticism that was an alternative style to the more classic mainstream tastes of the Regency style. 

Brighton Pavilion

‘Museo Del Prado’

Regency Architecture and Ancient Egypt

Regency architecture also used elements of ancient Egyptian art and design, which came to public attention at the end of the 18th century when Napoleon’s campaigns in Egypt were accompanied by archaeological surveys. Information and images related to the finds made their way back to England and caught the imagination of architects and designers. 

The Egyptian Hall was commissioned by William Bullock as a museum to house his collection, which included curiosities brought back from the South Seas by Captain Cook.  It was the first building in England to be influenced by the Egyptian style and was partly inspired by the success of the Egyptian Room in Thomas Hope’s house in Duchess Street. The ‘Museo Del Prado’ is also a fine example of Regency architecture which is heavily influenced by Egypt and the classics.

Regency Architecture and Mughal India

Another stunning Palace inspired by Egyptian and Indian delights is ‘Sezincote’ a Mughal Indian palace set in the Cotswold Hills. The house was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell and built in 1805.  It is a notable example of Neo-Mughal architecture, a 19th-century re-interpretation of 16th and 17th-century architecture from the Mughal Empire.  

The house is surmounted by a copper dome and minarets, and set in a picturesque water garden with seven pools, waterfalls, a grotto and a temple to Surya, the Hindu Sun God.  A curving Orangery frames the Persian Garden of Paradise.  Explore WOOLF Historic Interiors.

Sezincote’ a Mughal Indian palace set in the Cotswold Hills.