House at Cliffe, Selby
Rural cottage to be replced with three hosues:
Charming Ivy clad cottage to come down just to teh East of Selby in Cliffe village. Its the nuances that are abscent from new builds that initially piqued my interest in heritage. The above, for example, has a boundary wall that attaches to the gable wall. This sort of feature will be abscent from the replacement, but in design terms, marries the building to its environment.
Hopefully the ivy will grow back over the three hosues that replace this bulding.
Brew and Brisket pub, York
Circa 1900 pub to be lost near Clifton Moor:
A lovely example an important typology from this era; The Roudhouse Pub.
The applicant is looking to demolish the building, put up a prefab unit and create a service yard for a car wash. Im no entrepeneur, but surely it would be cheaper to keep the building as the business premises? You could even lease out some of it as office space.
The pub doesn’t occupy a central position within the plot, being tucked away in a corner, so its not as if the configation on the site precludes its use a car valetting facility. Even the heritage statement accepts that the history of the site needs to be further reseach before the building is touched by the wrecking ball. Thats as close as we’ll ever get to a plea for retention from a comissioned heritage expert.
These pubs are vital robust public buildings, and slowly they will come back to life in a post-covid world. It is difficult to appreciate from the image, but the brickwork now demonstrates a centenial spalling, after 100 years of life and love. Clean your car by all means, but only when you’ve got enough spare cash after going to the pub.
Leeds General Infirmary
Demolition is to commence of the Former Nurses Homes at the Leeds General Infirmary:
I genuinely thought Leeds City Council would manage to negotiate the retention of the more ornate portions of this building.
I had personaly campaigned to get some of the building included in the revised listing of the hospital campus. Unfortunately, this was not to be, and we will unecessarily lose a stunning bricked frontage in the city centre, to be replaced by an elevation that does not relate to the street.
It has been a highly emotive dialogue, and a lot of ire has been directed at the conservation lobby for valuing heritage over childrens hospital facilities. Social provisions for vulnerable children are vital and I can see why the citizenry of Leeds decried any motion that could prejudice the arrival of this new facility. However, I have always reasoned that both requirments could be satisfied with adequate design skills. The decision being made at plans panal, I can not imagine any of the politicians voting would risk the optics associated with questioning the delivery of a new childrens hospital.
It is also concerning that Heritage England and The Victorian Society fully objected to the loss of these buildings, and their consultation appears to have been given no weight in the decision. Heritage England also showed concern for the presidence this sets – should other hospital buildings be deemed redundant, will they also be lost?
The last point I should make is directed towards the architects, Golling Dod. When every other actor in this process has overlooked the potential to retain the hertiage buildings it is almost understandable, with hospotal delivery being an excerise in balance sheets. But the design professionals tasked with making the most of this site should be tabling a strategy that demonstrates how heritage can be integrated into a new facility, and add value to proposals. It was encumbant on the architects here to offer a creative and inspiring concept. Instead we have a design that is wholly generic. Reflection is needed.
Brass workshop, Bradford
Plans to demolish a backstreet Victorian workshop in Bradford:
This charming industrial corner site just outside of Bradford City Centre is to make way for two terraced houses, replacing the existing building on a like-for-like footprint.
The loss of the corner entrance is a shame, as are the chimneys that will no longer be a feature of this corner.
Let’s hope the new building (and specifically the conservation officers at the council) ensures that the materials of the elevations match th rest of the block.
Ripon Cathedral Choir School
Appication to demolish music institute in Ripon:
Persimon Homes are looking to build out 12 apartments as part of their wider strategic development on this site to deliver 105 dwellings. Originally they had received permission to convert this building.
Although they received permision to build out their houses, I would hazard that the determination may have been predicated on the betterment of the site, following the retention and restoration of this historic building. I question whether or not the permision would have been granted had the demolistion notice been included with the initial planning application.
Thankfully it sounds as though there has been a lot of vocal opposition to the plans, which is well documented in The Stray Ferret. However in my experience the local authority will struggle to justify a refusl, following what has presumably been a protracted process, subsuming hundreds of officer hours.
Cottages in East Yorkshire
Three rural cottages to be lost in The East Riding:
All three of which are a shame to lose it goes without saying, particularly as they are all fit for purpose. The Old Post office is in fact being encorporated into the neighbouring house, so the local authority will actually lose a dwelling.
The replacement housing comes straight out of the architects pattern book, to wit, three unique buildings will be gone forever.
Aubrey House, York
Plans to demolish a culster of buildings for student flats in York:
A sweet pair of houses will be lost to make way for student accomodation.
I fully understand the need to densify sites such as this, to avoid students consuming residential accomodation elsewhere in the city, so it would be difficult to oppose the loss of these buildings for that purpose.
Those black cast iron railings will be sorely missed however.
Shoe and Boot Foundry, Leeds
Application to clear a site, which includes the industrial street frontage of Macaulay Street in Mabgate, Leeds:
Granted, these buildings are utilitarian industrial buildings, without any notable merit architecturally, however as the Mabgate area of Leeds is dependent on cultural regeneration, the crumbling historic tissue of the quarter is vital, particularly to anchor character and povide cues for the wave of forthcoming development.
The above is a shoe and boot foundary according to maps from the 1890s. The bracketing attached to the sofits presumably once held bold signage, and provides an interesting feature for the street. It shouldn’t take a huge leap of the imagination to see how such stock would appeal to the burgeoning student population in the area. Stick a micro brewery and tap room in there, and suddely Macaulay Street is a destination within the Mabgate mileiu.
If the buildings go, then Macauley Street will be bereft of identity, and become nothing more than an access road for the bin lorries serving the student blocks.
Its a hard sell, but retaining shabby and unardorned stock to punctuate a street front as the infil comes, is right out of Jane Jacobs’ playbook.
Shade Chapel, Todmorden
Application to demolition a Wesleyan Church in Calderdale:
Sadly, this building resides on top of a culverted river, which during a storm in February partially collapsed.
The threat of further collapse and the flood hazard this would create has necessitated the demolition of the church.
The building was very tastefully converted into residential use and was a paragon of heritage renewal which makes this even more of a pity.
St Mary’s, Richmond Hill, Leeds
Application to demolish a prominent catholic church in Leeds:
An application to demolish half of this Catholic church and the neighbouring presbytery has been made, following a long dialogue with Leeds City Council to solve the problem of this abandoned building.
The building is prominent and is the highest point of the built landscape on Richmond Hill, being visible from many gateways into the city. LVIAs have noted this, which has informed the design that looks to emulate the massing of the original nave.
However, in my own opinion, the retention of the north-facing elevation shown in the above image is imperative when even considering these proposals as acceptable.
The Presbytery is also a stunning Victorian building which will be lamentably lost and replaced with a cuboid of an architectural language that is already beginning to look dated. If only an urban designer were involved with this project, the use of the heritage and geographic assets of this location would have been much more sensitive.
Then there is the interior, which is a stunningly vaulted space, tantamount to a medieval abbey.
The tragedy of all this is that within a mile of this old church are around 10 new immigrant congregations, filling former warehouses each week on the verges of strategic highways. If only they could occupy this space instead.
