June 11, 2026 / By rachel

As part of our 40 projects for 40 years series, this week we are heading to a residential conversion in Cheltenham.

This is Week 14 of our 40 projects celebrating 40 years of RRA Architects.

Tivoli has always been one of Cheltenham’s most characterful neighbourhoods. While the town became famous for spa waters, promenades and elegant terraces, making it popular with the gentry, Tivoli had an everyday kind of energy. It was, and still is, an area thriving with artisan businesses, developed to support the rich visitors to the rapidly growing town. According to Brian Torode’s ‘Cheltenham, The Story of Tivoli,’ “This was an area of homes, shops, trades and small businesses. Builders, coal merchants, grocers, printers, painters, bakers, barbers and publicans all played their part in the neighbourhood.”

By the time RRA became involved, 53 and 54 Tivoli Street had already lived several lives. Originally built as three small houses, it had spent much of its history as two properties before being merged into one rather awkward building. There were dark rooms, narrow corridors, odd cupboards and the unmistakable feeling that over the generations the building was adapted at will, making the layout somewhat interesting (to put it politely).

 

Before RRA was working on the property, we have our own personal memories of walking past ‘W A Williams Watch & Clock Repairs’ shop at 53 and seeing Mr Williams in the window bent over his work bench, painstakingly, moving minuscule cogs into place as he repaired the tiny mechanisms. He rarely looked up, in fact, most people only ever saw the top of his head through the window. Next door, number 54 had its own story, local memories list it as Burrows Newsagents, run by Wallace and Agnes Burrows at the turn of the century and, later, by their son Harold.

These details remind us that buildings are not just walls and windows, but places where people work, chat, repair watches, buy newspapers, make tea and complain about the weather.

 

And then there was the well.

So, the Tivoli Street conversion began with a long, much altered building in desperate need of some expertise, tlc and, frankly, some careful treading over the ‘spongy’ floorboards. Further investigation led to an old well discovered beneath the floor. Today, finding a well inside a house feels surprising, dramatic and slightly like the opening scene of a historical mystery. In an older building, however, it makes a lot more sense and certainly explains the rotten floor.

The Tivoli Street well was a reminder that domestic life was once much more physical than it is now. Before clean running water became something people could take for granted, water was hard work. No boiling water taps, no dishwashers, no popping the washing machine on and walking away feeling productive. Just heavy buckets, effort, sloshing, spilling and likely quite a lot of swearing. If water could be close to where it was needed, that was not a quirky design feature. A well inside the property was practical and pretty much a luxury.

Sadly, the well was not in good enough condition to restore as a feature. A dramatic glass floor installation would have been social media magic, but old buildings do not always care what would look good on Instagram. The sensible solution was to make it safe and move forward.

 

The building no one wanted

Despite the desirable location, when 53-54 Tivoli Street went on the market in 2018, it did not sell, the confused collection of corridors, cupboards and questionable decisions made too complicated a building for most people to tackle. Then it went to auction and there was only one bidder. That is what makes this residential conversion in Cheltenham such a good Week 14 project. It is not the biggest nor smallest, not the grandest and not the most exciting of our 40 projects series, but it’s one that realised the value in a small overlooked, chaotic, dark puzzle and transformed it into two homes each with its own identity and starting their new chapters for new neighbours to love, make tea, chat and complain about the weather.

 

The architectural project itself returned the building to two homes: a compact one-bed house at number 53 and a two-bed house at number 54. The aim was not to erase the past, but to make the building work for modern living. Light, layout and comfort all had to be brought back into a property that had become tangled over time. Want to see the full architectural project and more before and after images? Visit the Tivoli Street Conversion project page.

 

A lovely surprise came when Tivoli Street won a Cheltenham Civic Society Award for Renovation and Refurbishment in 2023, with the society commenting, “Some of you might remember 53/54 Tivoli Street as a quirky clock repair shop attached to the owner’s house … The judges felt that this was a very tidy renovation which returns a residential property to this street of neat Cheltenham cottages.”

With thanks to Cheltenham Local History Society for allowing us to use the historic Tivoli Place image. Used with permission. And to Brian Torode who has extensively researched the Tivoli area.

 

About RRA Architects

Currently celebrating its 40th year, RRA Architects is an award-winning architectural practice established in 1986, supporting clients across residential, commercial, retail, development, heritage, education, community and conservation projects.

We work nationally, but are mostly focused across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, the Cotswolds, the West Midlands, South West and South Wales, helping clients create thoughtful, practical and well-designed buildings.

As our 40 projects for 40 years series continues, we will be sharing more projects that reflect the people, places and stories behind the work.

Search #40Projects40Weeks and #RRAat40 on social media to follow the series.