Weston Homes has acquired the former military headquarters in Aldershot, Hampshire with plans to create 34 apartments and cottages.
Located on Steeles Road, the Grade II listed Victorian building was originally designed in the 1890s as part of the regeneration of Aldershot to be the headquarters for the senior officers of the formations. The foundation stone was laid on the 28 March 1894 by HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the son of Queen Victoria, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Aldershot and the District Surveyor Thomas Jerome. The building was completed in 1895.
Weston Homes plans to transform the historic site, which will be known as The Head Quarters, into a collection of apartments and cottages, with the converted homes offering large windows and generously sized living spaces.
During World War II, the building served as the headquarters for Aldershot District and later Aldershot and Hants District. Throughout the war, as the country’s largest military centre Aldershot was expected to be a significant target for German bombers. Surprisingly, Aldershot suffered relatively little damage with the local belief being that Nazis wanted the Garrison left intact for their own use if they ever did invade.
In 1995, the building became headquarters for the 4th Division which became Support Command in 2011. The headquarters then moved from the building to Montgomery House on 1st April 2014.
The Head Quarters is located close to Weston Homes’ existing development, Gun Hill Park, the former Cambridge Military Hospital now a residential address of 140 homes.
Both The Head Quarters and Gun Hill Park sit on the Wellesley estate, led by Grainger plc, the redevelopment of the 255-hectare former Aldershot Garrison site in Hampshire into a new residential community.
Bob Weston, chairman of Weston Homes, said: “The acquisition of the military headquarters in Aldershot will enable Weston Homes to deliver a new collection of converted homes and help preserve this historic site’s legacy. The parts of the garrison which have been given up for civilian use are undergoing extensive renovation to reinvigorate these military buildings for a new community and we are proud to be delivering another element of the estate’s wider regeneration.”
Suzanne Aplin, group sales and marketing director at Weston Homes, commented: “We are delighted to have acquired the former military headquarters in Aldershot, which is located close to our conversion of the Cambridge Military Hospital into Gun Hill Park. We have seen strong demand with buyers enjoying the estate’s heritage and we look forward to bringing this new scheme to life in due course.”
