Planning, Heritage & Access Statement
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PLAN N IN G, H ERIT AGE & ACCESS ST AT EMEN T LA N D T O REA R O F 28 A MW ELL ST REET , LO N D O N EC 1 ( A LSO K N O W N A S N EW RI VER H EA D ) th Rev A – 28 April 2014 The Regeneration Practice 1 Huguenot Place Heneage Str eet London E1 5LN www.regener at io n.co .uk CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 SIT E CO N T EX T 2.1 H ist o r y 2.2 Location 2.3 Local Context 2.4 Townscape Set t ing 2.5 Land Use 2.6 Public Transport accessibility 2.7 Planning Policy Context 3.0 SIT E A N A LYSIS: 3.1 Historical Significance 3.2 Statutory Listing and Conservation Area Status 3.3 Constraints 3.4 Opportunities 4.0 D ESIGN PRIN CIPLES A D O PT ED : 4.1 Land U se 4.2 Bulk and Massing 4.3 Access 4.4 Conservation Philosophy 2 5.0 T H E PRO PO SA LS: 5.1 The Design Process 5.2 Design Evolution 5.3 Analysis of Options 5.4 Repair s 5.5 Sustainability 91 6.0 A CCESS ST A T EMEN T : 6.1 Purpose of the Access Statement 6.2 Methodology 6.3 D esign St andar ds 6.4 Project Description 6.5 Access context and Site Constraints 6.6 Car Par king 6.7 Pedestrian Access 6.8 Refuse Storage Access 6.9 H ar d Landscape D esign 6.10 Building Approach 6.11 St udios, Café , H er it age D isplay and Educat ion Ar eas D esign 7.0 CONCLUSIONS A PPEN D ICES: 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 (HOLTO PS) to support planning and Listed Building applications for the repair and refurbishment of the Engine House, Boiler Houses, Coal Store and W ind Pump Base on the New River Head site, bringing them into public and community use to accommodat e; a) a her it age-education area that presents the site’s significance and principle st ories, and runs education programmes for schools and the community, b) office space for char it ies, 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 (HOLTO PS) 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 set s o ut an analysis o f t he 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 incor por at es a Planning and a H er it age St at ement . W e 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 t he hist or ical and t ownscape 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 SIT E C O N T EX T 2.1 H ist o r y 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 fr esh dr inking wat er , Fi gure 3 . The N ew 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 W ater Board in 1904 which became part of Thames W at er 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 dischar ged from the river. The flow of water was controlled through cisterns and stopcocks in the basement of the adjacent and contemporary, W ater House. The open space at the heart of Claremont Square, to the north was the site of the Upper Pond, completed in c 1709. W ater 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 & W att engine. A tapering square chimney was added by W illiam 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 W ater 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 sw at hes of land in Islington. Initially, these were used for recreation but during the ear ly 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, ar r anged around, squares or in wide parades establishing vist as emphasising a gr andio se mast er plan concept . W .C. Mylne w as st r o ngly influenced by the work of John W ood 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 ar caded bays for ming a single ar chit ect ur al unit y Fi gure 2 . The W ater House which was used as a residence for the Company’s successive Engineers’ and surveyors’ and was extended by both Robert and W illiam Mylne in the 18th and 19th centuries, was cleared in the early 20th century to make way for the Metropolitan W ater Board’s Headquarter’s building. The round pond was drained at the same time. The surviving buildings comprise the stump of the W ind Pump, Smeaton’s Engine Figure 4: View by Hollar showing the 1612 Water House and Round Pond,(1665) th House and its lat er 19 century additions including the Coal Store range to the east and a W orkshop 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 applicat ion sit e co ver s an ar ea of appr oximat ely 0.17 hect ar es and is in a back land locat ion t o t he r ear of Char les 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 pr e-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 W ater Board, to house employees and now in private residential use.