Putney Embankment’s historic boathouses are getting a Victorian makeover, as two riverside clubs strip away decades-old additions to reveal the original architecture hidden beneath.
Work has begun at London Rowing Club, where the 1921 concrete balcony has been demolished and the building’s 19th century stone corbels are now exposed for the first time in over a century. A few doors along, Ranelagh Sailing Club is seeking permission to remove a deteriorating 1960s extension and restore its own Victorian facade.
One local resident, Des Howard, welcomed what he called “the trend towards undoing the damage done by planning approvals in the 70’s”, adding that he hoped to see similar restoration work on Putney High Street and Upper Richmond Road.
The Putney Society has backed both schemes. Andrew Catto, the society’s buildings panel convenor, described the embankment boathouses as “a unique and living part of local history” deserving conservation as a group.
London Rowing Club
Photos taken this week show the London Rowing Club site boarded up behind construction hoarding, with a skip full of concrete rubble outside the Grade II-listed building. Contractor Builtain is carrying out the first phase of a two-stage project.
According to information displayed on the hoarding, the new balcony will be supported on five columns, with the original corbels retained. The design reflects the style of the club’s first Victorian balcony, featuring a period-appropriate balustrade and hardwood timber handrail matching the Embankment riverside railings.
A second phase will add a canopy along the length of the balcony, meeting the building’s facade below its distinctive “eyelid windows” so these Victorian details remain visible from the river.
Putney.news previously reported that Wandsworth’s Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee backed the scheme in July. Planning consent was subsequently granted, and the club’s Great London Row fundraiser in September raised more than £39,000 towards the project.
The club, founded in 1856, originally planned to begin demolition in January 2026, suggesting work is running ahead of schedule. More details are available on the club’s balcony project page.
Ranelagh Sailing Club
Ranelagh’s application (2025/3675), registered in October, would remove the full-width first floor extension that currently hides the building’s historic frontage.
According to the club’s heritage statement, the extension contains asbestos panels that are “starting to become detached and pose a threat to the health and safety of the club”. Removing it will expose the original mid-Victorian polychromatic brickwork underneath.
The sailing club, founded in 1889, had previously won approval for a more ambitious curved balcony design in 2021, but scaled back its plans after a feasibility study found the original scheme too expensive.
All nine public comments on the current application support it. Westminster School Boat Club, the direct neighbour, said the design “will be an obvious benefit to the Putney riverside frontage”.
