Veterinary surgery, Ilkley

Plans to demolish a beautiful Victorian House in Ilkley for three houses:

Currently operating as a vets, this late 19th century house is to be demolished to make way for three new townhouses.

The proposal is a good design, albeit lacking chimneys. However, there isn’t a need to demolish the existing building at all. Hardly any old buildings are still standing in Ben Rhydding – the Eastern suburb of Ilkley. Its not a notable building by any means, but it is the type of building that will be missed by the locals that walk past it each day. When there is no need to demolish a building, why not keep it and convert it creatively? Those stones benefit from over a century of weathering. That is a long wait to see the character of a building begin to reflect its relationship with nature. A century of storms, snow, sun, all captured in the stone.