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.
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.
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.
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:
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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