FLATS ‘WOULD RUIN ORNATE MASTERPIECE’

Published: 19 March 2010
by PETER GRUNER

PLANS to “shoehorn” homes and offices into the giant ornate lobby of an eight-storey flats complex in Holloway – built in the style of New York’s Grand Central Station – sparked outrage this week.

Conservation officials at the Town Hall were being urged to seek “emergency listing” powers to prevent the interior of the 100-year-old Beaux Arts Building in Manor Gardens from being ruined.

Residents, including leading theatre director Max Stafford-Clark, have formed an action committee to block the plan to “squeeze” three studio flats and two small offices into the foyer. 

They accuse the developer, which is also seeking permission to build in the car park, of wishing to “destroy a unique building”.

With its sweeping staircase and stained-glass windows, the former Royal Mail administrative headquarters was built in 1910 and converted into 190 upmarket flats in the early 1990s. Today, flats can sell for up to £500,000. Previous residents include Cherie Blair’s former style guru Carole Caplin and singer Mica Paris.

Doubt remains over whether or not the building is listed. Architect David Gibson, chairman-elect of the Islington Society,  believes it was locally listed 25 years.  But neither the society nor Islington Council can find any documentation to that effect.

Now pressure is being put on the council to obtain a last-minute temporary “listing” – which might be available from English Heritage – so that the building is safe, at least for the next six months while more permanent protection is sought.

Mr Gibson said: “My information is that it was locally listed but at the moment we can’t prove it. If it wasn’t it should have been. But then, who would have thought that anyone would consider developing the interior of a building?

“The entrance hall is meant to be a grand space and reflect the grandeur of the building. Putting flats inside and around it would make it pokey. It would lose its appeal. I’m pleased residents are opposing the application. The building must be protected.”

The Beaux Arts style of architecture is characterised by “order, symmetry, formal design, grandiosity and elaborate ornamentation”.

The 1995 brochure advertising the flats stated: “The foyer evokes the civilised refinement of the world’s great hotels, the grandeur of a great ocean liner’s state room.”

Mr Stafford-Clark, 68, said: “It’s a wonderful ornate building and the foyer is the crowning glory, which would be ruined by these plans.”

The flats and offices would be built within the 30ft-square lobby, which is 17 feet high and currently contains a mail room and reception area.

Actress Delia Lindsay, daughter-in-law of actor Sir Donald Sinden, hopes the building can be listed even at this late stage. 

“It should have been protected right from the start,” she said. “But who would have thought anyone would want to build inside a building like ours?”

Writer Rosemary Gasson, who has lived in the building for 14 years, said: “It survived two world wars – and now this.”

Beaux Arts also boasts original mosaic flooring, a five-storey atrium and ornate columns.

More than 50 residents from the building attended a meeting on Monday to express their anger about the proposals.

Lisa Millar, chairwoman of the residents’ association, said: “We do not believe the freeholder has fully considered the impact this proposal will have on the magnificent foyer of this building. The building’s foyer is used by residents for meetings and social events – there is a real sense of community here. If these flats are built this beautiful area, which is of historical as well as community importance, will be lost forever.” 

A spokesman for developer Bloomfold said: “In addition to the works associated with the application, we intend to refurbish the entrance foyer in a sympathetic way that will respect the history and splendour of the existing interior.”