Conservation Area Observations by Fred Rodgers

Planning and Transportation Committee Meeting 14 November Item 7a

Subject:         Barbican and Golden Lane Estates:
Proposed Conservation Area (CA)
Report of:      Carolyn Dwyer (the Report)

OBSERVATIONS

It is of great concern that Ms Dwyer has determined to exclude “Fann Street and Bridgewater Square” (Zone 2) from the CA on the basis that it "did not meet the criteria". As the criteria have been inaccurately assessed in the Report, even "does not" would fail to make it a valid reason for exclusion. Whilst the criteria are said to be in Appendix 2 to the Report, these are, in fact, in Appendix 3.

1 Golden Lane, originally Cripplegate Institute and designed by Sidney R J Smith, is the longest, in time, and oldest, listed building in Zone 2 but is excluded from the CA for no logical reason. Not only does 1 Golden Lane adjoin Barbican Estate, it is physically on the proposed Culture Mile, a position its history warrants.  The large hall was also Cripplegate Theatre, used for amateur dramatics and operas, with the first licence being granted in 1897.

The New Stage Club staged the first production of George Bernard Shaw’s “The Philanderer” at Cripplegate Theatre on 20 February 1905. Oscar Wilde’s “A Florentine Tragedy” was also premiered there, whilst around 1919 Alfred Hitchcock had dancing lessons there. The theatre was rebuilt to the design of Col. Frederick S Hammond with a panelled auditorium, proscenium stage and orchestra pit, re-opening in 1932, later being renamed as Golden Lane Theatre.      

For the record, and to repeat what I have previously advised to Ms Dwyer’s department (the department), 1 Golden Lane was altered before 1912 with the addition of two floors and a new roof, including the, now, faux gables. This is evident from both a cursory viewing of the building and perusing the images below of it as originally built and as it was in 1912.

Eglwys Jewin, designed by Aubyn Peart Robinson of Caroe and Partners, a non-designated heritage asset, is also excluded from the CA. Not only has the department had the benefit of my appraisal of Eglwys Jewin, all the department's internal and public documentation that I have seen acknowledge its qualifications for listing. Despite being a non-designated heritage asset, there is no mention of Eglwys Jewin in Appendix 5 to the Report.

With the aid of City Corporation generally, the department has already initiated the potential destruction of J Inness Elliott’s Bernard Morgan House, perhaps an indication of the motive for the absence of Zone 2 from the CA. Even so, that edifice - The Denizen by Stirling Prize winners, AHMM - which has been so warmly welcomed by the department as an icon of contemporary London Vernacular architecture would surely, in that respect, warrant being in a conservation area, if and when built.

Tudor Rose Court, 35 Fann Street and The Cobalt Building, 10-15 Bridgewater Square along with the 1987/92 extension of 1 Golden Lane and, The Denizen - if built - are creations of the department and/or a predecessor. As such there is all the more reason why these buildings should be included in the CA - to ensure replacement by something more appropriate at the relevant time. Tudor Rose Court also has a unique role in providing sheltered housing in the Square Mile, enabling elderly City residents to remain here as long as possible.

45 Beech Street - built as Murray House, which fronts that street and not Bridgewater Street - is not reminiscent of some Barbican Estate horizontal slab blocks. It was designed by Frank Scarlett in the post Festival of Britain style and built in 1956, well before the Barbican was designed. If there is any reminiscence, then it may well be that the Barbican Estate was influenced by Murray House - even more justification for it being in the CA.

Details of the architect and the contractor, as well as its date, are clearly shown on the image below. Why has no one in the department bothered to look at 45 Beech Street? Its windows, doorway and other features are not original but, as with Bernard Morgan House, the main structure certainly is. More relevantly, 45 Beech Street, along with 1 Golden Lane, Bernard Morgan House and Eglwys Jewin determined the extent of the Barbican, with the former being responsible for the chip off Ben Jonson Highwalk.

That
Bridgewater Square and Barbican Wildlife Garden, in Fann Street, should also be excluded is simply a mystery. A devious one, no doubt, especially as the vehicle ramp on the southern boundary of the nursery site is included in the CA. The following is an extract from the Report:

Bridgwater Square itself remains an open space, with a children’s nursery and playground using the Square. Buildings to the east and south represent recent office and residential developments that are not contextual with the Barbican Estate that rises to the west of the square.

This appears to have been written without regard to facts. The nursery is located in the Barbican Estate. The building to the south is not “recent” and pre-dates the Barbican Estate. According to London Gardens Online:

The residential square was subsequently developed around a central garden. In 1925 there was a campaign to save the garden as public open space. It was acquired by public subscription in 1926 and laid out as public gardens, opening to the public on 15 October 1928 for 'use by local workers'

The historic reference to Bridgewater Square has been noted. Barbican Wildlife Garden also has a historic context in that it is probably the only undeveloped bomb site in the City. As such the basements of the destroyed buildings remain under an important contribution to the bio-diversity of the City. The Garden must be included in the CA as well.

As for Bridgewater House, 5/6 Bridgewater Square, a building dating back to 1926 is very rare in this area - image below. However, whilst the Report refers to the tall round-headed windows in Prudential Assurance Architects Department’s 1985, as the image below shows, these windows reference the windows of the Barbican Estate blocks with their barrelled vaults. Another detail missed by the department and the building should not be excluded from the CA simply to suit another agenda.

The final paragraph on the characteristics of Zone 2 simply beggars belief:

Fann Street/ Bridgewater Square area has developed over the last century into a network of streets and open spaces with a variety of building types. It is an area with historical associations from the 18th century; however the evidence that survives in the plan form is not of sufficiently high quality and defined character. Buildings of merit in the area are the Welsh Church and the Cripplegate Institute. Other buildings in the zone do not contribute sufficiently to the character of the area.

There are five streets - Fann Street, Bridgewater Street, Cripplegate Street, Viscount Street and Brackley Street - all of which have remained true to the pre-WW2 plan with those buildings which survived bombing still intact. One is listed but in advocating the exclusion of that building and the rest of Zone 2 from the CA, the department is seemingly bent on ensuring that Zone 2 is destroyed.

However, the unique character of Zone 2 - as those five streets and Bridgewater Square clearly show - is something that warrants protection from further damage. The CA should also provide protection for the iconic Barbican and Golden Lane estates from attacks facilitated by the department and Zone 2 must be included in the proposed CA. Otherwise there is no point in creating the CA.

08 November 2017 - Fred Rodgers, Chair Bernard Morgan Liaison Group

EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT RE ZONE 2

Zone 2 – Fann Street, Bridgewater Square – the area between the two listed estates

The area between the 2 iconic post war listed estates, developed from 1688 after an early 16th century mansion owned by the Earl of Bridgewater burned down. Christopher Wren was a partner in the development, and many of his colleagues and craftsmen (Hawksmoor, W.Emmett, E.Strong Sen, and H.Doogood) took building leases. The square and garden from the original estate survive, merged on the North side with a larger garden facing Fann Street (Fann Street Wildlife Garden).

The area now comprises a small network of streets and spaces, bounded on the north by Fann Street, Golden Lane on the East, and the Barbican Estate on the South and West.

Buildings of interest in this area are:

  • Remains of the former Cripplegate institute, founded from parochial charities in 1891, and built 1893-6. The building is in red brick and stone in a free Jacobean style. 1987-92 an extension was constructed behind a retained facade. The original frontage is listed grade II, the new addition is not contextual in design. Now in commercial office use.

  • Jewin Welsh Church, Fann Street, by Caroe and Partners, 1956-61. It is a solid brick rectangle with square south-west tower and a pitched copper-clad roof. On the tower a pyramidal copper roof with a big square-urn finial. There is a gothic west window with triangular head and tracery in diagonal lines. The building is an undesignated heritage asset.

The remaining buildings in this zone represent a mixture of office, residential and commercial uses.

    • Bernard Morgan House has planning permission for redevelopment into a residential building.

    • No 35 Fann Street rises to 5 stories on the corner of Viscount Street with a curving, balcony at the corner. The building references the nearby Golden Lane Estate through the use of colour, overhangs and pillars.

    • 10-15 Bridgewater Square also occupies the Viscount Street frontage and rises to 7 stories on the Bridgewater Square side of the building. Construction is in brick above the ground floor, rising to 6 stories on Viscount Street.

    • Bridgewater House, 6-9 Bridgewater Square – offices built originally in 1926, now residential with tall round headed windows and coloured brickwork by Prudential Architects c.1985.

    • The Central Point building on Bridgewater Street comprises a six storey office building in Portland stone. A horizontal slab style block somewhat reminiscent of the Barbican residential slab blocks

Bridgwater Square itself remains an open space, with a children’s nursery and playground using the Square. Buildings to the east and south represent recent office and residential developments that are not contextual with the Barbican Estate that rises to the west of the square.

#
Criteria
Yes/No
Notes
1.
Is it the work of a particular architect or designer of regional or local note?
No
The buildings in this area represent a variety of architects, building ages and styles.
2.
Does it have landmark quality?
No
There is no coherent plan to the landscape that would give it landmark quality.
3.
Does it reflect a substantial number of other elements in the conservation area in age, style, materials, form characteristics? or other
No
There is no defined character for this area, whether through a group of buildings of similar age, or style.
4.
Does it relate to adjacent designated heritage assets in age, materials or in any other historically significant way?
No
The development of Bridgewater Square pre-dates the adjacent Barbican and Golden Lane 20th century estates. The ephemeral remains of the original plan form do not relate to adjacent designated heritage assets.
5.
Does it contribute positively to the setting of adjacent designated heritage asset?
No
The buildings of the area make a neutral contribution to adjacent designated heritage assets. They neither detract, nor do they contribute positively.
6.
Does it contribute to the quality of recognisable spaces including exteriors or open spaces within a complex of public buildings?
No
Bridgewater Square is a recognisable open space in this zone, however there are no elements remaining that mark it out as significant, and the surrounding buildings do not contribute to its character as an open space.
7.
Is it associated with a designed landscape, e.g. a significant wall, terracing or a garden building?
No
Whilst Bridgewater Square and Fann Street garden are both historic elements of the landscape, their current layout, boundary and quality of materials do not qualify them as designed landscapes.
8.
Does it individually, or as part of a group, illustrate the development of the settlement in which it stands?
Yes
The buildings in this zone chart the development of the area from the first world war onwards, based on a historic plan form.
9.
Does it have significant historic
Yes
Some of the original plan form of

associations with features such as the historic road layout, burgage plots, a town park or a landscape feature?
the Bridgewater estate survives in the form of the square and the garden.
10.
Does it have historic associations with local people or past events?
Yes
There is an association with the Bridgewater estate.
11.
Does it reflect the traditional functional character or former uses in the area?
No
The area has significantly altered over the past century and no longer reflects the original estate.
12.
Does its use contribute to the character or appearance of the area?
No
The area is now of mixed residential and commercial use, without buildings of standout merit to contribute to the character or appearance of the area.


Zone 2 satisfies 3/12 of the criteria for designation as a conservation area.

Zone 2: Summary and Conclusions

Fann Street/ Bridgewater Square area has developed over the last century into a network of streets and open spaces with a variety of building types. It is an area with historical associations from the 18th century; however the evidence that survives in the plan form is not of sufficiently high quality and defined character. Buildings of merit in the area are the Welsh Church and the Cripplegate Institute. Other buildings in the zone do not contribute sufficiently to the character of the area.

Zone 2 - Designation as a conservation area is NOT recommended.








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