Planning, Heritage & Access Statement
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PLANNING, HERITAGE & ACCESS STATEMENT LAND TO REAR OF 28 AMWELL STREET, LONDON EC1 (ALSO KNOWN AS NEW RIVER HEAD) (Revision A) The Regeneration Practice 1 Huguenot Place Heneage Street London E1 5LN www.regeneration.co.uk CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 SITE CONTEXT 2.1 History 2.2 Location 2.3 Local Context 2.4 Townscape Setting 2.5 Land Use 2.6 Public Transport accessibility 2.7 Planning Policy Context 3.0 SITE ANALYSIS: 3.1 Historical Significance 3.2 Statutory Listing and Conservation Area Status 3.3 Constraints 3.4 Opportunities 4.0 DESIGN PRINCIPLES ADOPTED: 4.1 Land Use 4.2 Bulk and Massing 4.3 Access 4.4 Conservation Philosophy 2 5.0 THE PROPOSALS: 5.1 The Design Process 5.2 Design Evolution 5.3 Analysis of Options 5.4 Repairs 5.5 Sustainability 91 6.0 ACCESS STATEMENT: 6.1 Purpose of the Access Statement 6.2 Methodology 6.3 Design Standards 6.4 Project Description 6.5 Access context and Site Constraints 6.6 Car Parking 6.7 Pedestrian Access 6.8 Refuse Storage Access 6.9 Hard Landscape Design 6.10 Building Approach 6.11 Studios, Café , Heritage Display and Education Areas Design 7.0 CONCLUSIONS APPENDICES: A: Option Plans extracted from the Options Study 3 1.0 INTRODUCTION This Planning, Heritage and Access Statement has been prepared on behalf of Heritage of London Trust Operations Limited (HOLTOPS) to support planning and Listed Building applications for the repair and refurbishment of the Engine House, Boiler Houses, Coal Store and Wind Pump Base on the New River Head site, bringing them into public and community use to accommodate; a) a heritage-education area that presents the site’s significance and principle stories, and runs education programmes for schools and the community, b) office space for charities, and c) community and meeting room facilities and a cafe.. This planning application follows completion of an Options Study on behalf of a partnership between two building preservation trusts; Heritage of London Trust Operations Limited (HOLTOPS) and Islington Building Preservation Trust (IBPT) which looked at possible sustainable uses for the New River Head site to meet the requirements of Islington Council’s Planning Briefs dated 1991 and 1999. This statement has been prepared by Paul Latham, Director of The Regeneration Practice, and an accredited conservation architect. It sets out an analysis of the Figure 1: : Engine House and south Boiler House from west site, describing the evolution of the proposal and explaining the rationale behind the scheme. It should be read in conjunction with the application drawings and incorporates a Planning and a Heritage Statement. We have adopted the following structure: Site Context: a review of the existing characteristics of the site and its surroundings, history, local context, land uses, location and townscape setting, public transport accessibility, planning policy, context Site Analysis: an analysis of the historical and townscape significance of the New River Head site and surviving buildings, and the constraints and opportunities for the restoration and development of the site. Design Principles Adopted: describes the land use, bulk and massing, access, conservation philosophy and repair principles that have been adopted in the proposal. The Proposals: reviews the design process, the evolution of the proposals leading to the final scheme design, and the implications of the proposals for sustainability. Access Statement: describes how the requirements for access, including for disabled people, are incorporated into the design Conclusions Figure 2: Coal Store range from the south 4 2.0 SITE CONTEXT 2.1 History The construction of a ‘New River’ was completed in 1613 by Sir Hugh Myddleton under the auspices of the New River Company. Originating in Amwell, Hertfordshire, this artificial waterway was built to supply London with fresh drinking water, Figure 3. The New River Head site and its environs are the original terminating point of this new water course. The New River Company was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904 which became part of Thames Water in 1989, and although most operational functions have now been re-located, the site continues to supply London with water. In 1613 a 200 ft diameter ‘round pond’ (part of which survives) was built to take The water discharged from the river. The flow of water was controlled through cisterns and stopcocks in the basement of the adjacent and contemporary, Water House. The open space at the heart of Claremont Square, to the north was the site of the Upper Pond, completed in c 1709. Water was pumped up to it from the lower plateau of the New River Head from a windmill, built between 1707 and 1708, to the north east of the round pound. The power generated by the windmill was not sufficient, and was soon replaced by an atmospheric steam engine designed by John Smeaton, a leading engineer of the time, in about 1768. It was erected under the supervision of Robert Mylne, the New River Head Company’s second engineer and surveyor, and housed in a tall ‘engine house’, which was later enlarged by Mylne in order to accommodate a Boulton & Watt engine. A tapering square chimney was added by William Mylne in 1818 but was demolished in 1954. Over time, the site gradually increased to about 7 acres in size and was composed of outer ponds and more sophisticated structures. The driving forces behind these developments was not only the increase in demand for fresh water in the rapidly growing Victorian city, but also the need for the New River Company to maintain its position against competitors, advancements in civil engineering and a need to meet the requirements of the Metropolis Water Acts of 1852 and 1871 which dictated standards for water filtration amidst concerns of impurity. As well as the river, the New River Company also purchased significant swathes of land in Islington. Initially, these were used for recreation but during the early 19th century, much of the land was developed, forming the core of the southern area of the borough under the close architectural direction of William Chadwell Mylne. Figure 3: Plan of the New River by Warburton, (1747) 5 This development is characterised by uniform, brick fronted blocks with recessed blind arcading at first floor and uniform rows of sash windows at each storey, arranged around, squares or in wide parades establishing vistas emphasising a grandiose masterplan concept. W.C. Mylne was strongly influenced by the work of John Wood junior in Bath in 1768, and the late Georgian re-development of many parts of the City of London under the direction of the City Surveyor George Dance (the younger) in which single houses are treated as a monumental unity. The much altered Coal Store extended to the east by W.C. Mylne in 1849 exemplifies the architectural approach, seven blind arcaded bays forming a single architectural unity Figure 2. The Water House which was used as a residence for the Company’s successive Engineers’ and surveyors’ and was extended by both Robert and William Mylne in the 18th and 19th centuries, was cleared in the early 20th century to make way for the Metropolitan Water Board’s Headquarter’s building. The round pond was drained at the same time. The surviving buildings comprise the stump of the Wind Pump, Smeaton’s Engine Figure 4: View by Hollar showing the 1612 Water House and Round Pond,(1665) th House and its later 19 century additions including the Coal Store range to the east and a Workshop range on the north boundary. Figure 5: Canaletto, showing the decommissioned 1708-9 Wind Pump and Water House, (1753) 6 2.2 Location: Figure 6: Location and Site Plan 7 2.3 Local Context: The application site covers an area of approximately 0.17 hectares and is in a back land location to the rear of Charles Allen House, 28 Amwell Street. The site is to the northeast of Amwell Street, close to the junction of Amwell Street with River Street, and is southwest of Myddelton Passage. The surrounding area to the north is pre-dominantly residential in character, much of the development dating from the development of the New River Estate during the first half of 19th century under the direction of W.C. Mylne. To the west of the site is Charles Allen House, a seven storey block of flats, constructed in 1964-6 on the Amwell Street frontage to designs by J.F. Hearsum, surveyor to the Metropolitan Water Board, to house employees and now in private residential use. The Metropolitan Water Board Headquarters building, designed by H Austen Hall between 1914 and 1920 and its gardens and car park were constructed on part of the site of the Round Pond to the south east of the site. The Headquarters has been converted to residential units reflecting the recent re-use of part of the site by Thames Water. A new development of flats known as Nautilus House is situated on the eastern Boundary and further east are Metropolitan Water Board Laboratory buildings of 1938, designed by John Murray Easton, and also converted to private flats. The Gardens to the south and east are open to the public during controlled Hours, although this access has been the subject of recent enforcement action. Figure 7: Aerial view showing local context 8 2.4 Townscape Setting. The Engine House Complex comprises: a tall yellow stock brick Engine House, the exterior of which dates from the late 18th century with a mid 19th century Staircase Tower extended on the west. Single storey mid 19th century Boiler houses extending on the South and East sides with shallow hipped slate roofs, and A single storey mid 19th century Coal Store range extending to the east also in yellow stock brick.