Decorating Porchester Gardens

Porchester Gardens is a distinguished Victorian residential street in Bayswater forming a broad tree-lined avenue between Bayswater Road and the Westbourne Grove area, developed in the 1860s and 1870s as part of the expansion of the Paddington estate. The street features grand five-storey stucco terraces of considerable scale, their Italianate facades with pedimented windows and rusticated ground floors reflecting the ambition of the Victorian speculative builders who created this quarter. It lies within the Bayswater Conservation Area and remains one of the most imposing residential streets in W2.

The scale of the stucco terraces on Porchester Gardens means that exterior painting projects invariably require full scaffold erection and often phased working to minimise disruption. The deep rusticated mouldings and elaborate window architraves require skilled brush application rather than spray, and the street's exposure means a durable weatherproof masonry system is essential.