Site Analysis - Location & development context

Holloway Campus Location

The existing London Metropolitan University campus at Holloway road is situated in a potentially enviable position in terms of accessibility and visibility.

Located adjacent to the new Emirates stadium of Arsenal Football club, the site has excellent public transport links, with Holloway tube station and Drayton Park overground station just a few minutes walk from the university.

The site fronts onto the Holloway road, the A1, which is one of the HOLLOWAY busiest arterial routes into central London from the surroundings to the north.

Holloway Urban Context

The urban area surrounding the London Metropolitan University campus is an area undergoing significant change, evidenced by a rapidly changing built environment. Holloway today is a vital and evolving urban area within London. A melting pot of demography, cultures and social contexts. Supported by recent surrounding developments, the University has potentially a key part to play in the continued regeneration of the area.

This section of the report briefly describes the history of development in the area, the University itself, and explores the distinct characters of the area today.

CITY OF LONDON

London Metropolitan University campuses within London

Design & Access Statement . . . page 6 Site Analysis - History of the urban area

History of development in Holloway

The Holloway Road dates back to medieval times and for centuries, along with Back Road (now Liverpool Road) and the Essex Road was a main route for driving livestock to Islington. Over time, settlements emerged along the road. One such settlement at the junction with Hornsey Road, Ring Cross, is now the site of London Met University. The church of St Magdalene was built by William Wickings in 1814.

By 1834, settlement along the busy turnpike had significantly expanded and the area had become known as Lower Holloway. At this moment in time, Hornsey Street did not exist, but Eden Grove did, forming a local access road.

By the late 19th Century, London had expanded to absorb Lower Holloway. This expansion was aided by the railway network which also made its physical imprint on the urban fabric, creating barriers to local connections and defining distinct character areas. The familiar pattern of Victorian terraced housing dominated the area, combined with commercial premises along the Holloway Road and industrial sites adjacent to the railway: the site of the current London Met University campus is one where all three of these met. 1834 - Lower Holloway 1896 - Expansion of Holloway Road Benwell Road was lined with Victorian terraces, many of which still exist today. Likewise Brand Street and Slaney Place. While these streets no longer exist, today's urban fabric still hints at their former presence. In 1896 the Northern Polytechnic Institute was opened.

The 20th Century brought great change to the area. The Piccadilly Underground line was built at the start of the century with a station at Holloway Road which opened in 1906. The mainline station (which had opened in 1852) closed in 1915.

In 1971 the Northern Polytechnic merged with the North Western Polytechnic to form the Polytechnic of North London, which in turn became the University of North London in 1992.

The Holloway Road has long been an important shopping street for North London and in 1990, the Nag's Head shopping centre was opened to the north of the railway viaduct.

In 2000 Arsenal Football Club bought an industrial and waste disposal estate in Ashburton Grove, just to the north of the university campus, where they built the Emirates Stadium. They relocated to it from their historic home of Highbury in 2006. The University of North London merged with London Guildhall University to form London Metropolitan University in 2002. Present day - Established campus of London Metropolitan University, with Emirates to the north east, and new student quarter to south west.

Design & Access Statement . . . page 7 Site Analysis - Building Grain

Holloway urban area today

The immediate urban context surrounding the university campus is an area of great diversity in building grain, ranging from the fine historic grain of the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian housing to the XXL grain of the Emirates Stadium. Between these extremes are the campus buildings of the university.

This intermediate grain also includes the Islington recycling centre, the Nag's Head shopping centre (towards the courser grain of the spectrum) and the new blocks of flats and student housing, the floor plates of which are not as large as the teaching spaces of the university, but are noticeably bigger than the historic built form of terraced housing.

Like building heights there is a discernible pattern of course grain buildings along main transport corridors, particularly the railway viaduct and the Holloway Road.

Design & Access Statement . . . page 8 Site Analysis - Building Heights

Building Heights

Much of the historic building stock is two to three storey houses. As was common in Victorian times, bigger industrial buildings are mixed in with the houses, usually set back from the street behind residential terraces. These too are around two to four storeys, but their higher storey heights and bigger floorplates make them much more imposing buildings.

Historically buildings along the Holloway Road were generally slightly taller than the local streets either side, reflecting the importance of the Holloway Road as a main street into and out of London. This trend continued in modern times with the building of the Tower Building at London Met University (15 storeys).

In recent years, generally building heights have increased. To the west of Holloway Road new student flats rise from four to twelve storeys. Flats adjacent to the Emirates Stadium are range from six to twelve storeys high.

To the north of the viaduct the tower blocks on Citizen Road, at nineteen storeys, are the tallest buildings in the immediate area. New buildings just to the north of the viaduct range from six to seven storeys.

The existing buildings in the immediate context of J-Block are:

-5-6 storey residential blocks of flats to the north

-10/15 storey Tower/tech Tower to the west

-3 storey residential terraced houses to the east

-3/4 storey university buildings to the south

The existing J-Block building is an anomaly within its current context, as it is currently mostly only 2 storeys of accommodation. Whilst this is no doubt due to its date of construction in the 1930’s, and the needs of the institution at the time, in the context of the modern day university inner- city campus this inefficient use of the site footprint is not sustainable.

Design & Access Statement . . . page 9 Site Analysis - Character Areas

Local ‘character areas’

Like growth rings of a tree, areas along the Holloway Road get progressively older moving south towards central London. North of the viaduct is substantially Edwardian. Around the university, the historic fabric is mostly Victorian giving way to the Georgian townhouses of Highbury Fields to the south.

Redevelopment has impacted upon this simple reading. Sometimes this is in the form of infill buildings that may add or detract to the general character of the area, but not fundamentally change it. In other instances, significant change either comprehensive or incremental has created a whole new character area. This palimpsest has created the following character areas:

The Emirates Stadium Emirates stadium Together with the large blocks of flats built adjacent to it and the Arsenal Museum, this forms a new character area. Its form derives from its use: the stadium is an object building surrounded by the wide-open spaces required to manage huge crowds of spectators. The stadium development includes large blocks of flats on its southern edge.

Student Accommodation Quarter

Opposite the London Met University campus, between the railway viaduct and Eden Grove, a student accommodation quarter is emerging. The architecture (mostly by CZWG Architects) is distinctive: large, brick-faced blocks with colourful, metal-clad projecting elements. Ground floor uses are commercial and recreational, many associated with the student housing. Between the blocks are landscaped spaces which have a semi-private feel, giving this area something of the atmosphere of a campus rather than an integrated piece of city fabric.

Drayton Park

Much of the Victorian built fabric remains intact consisting of parallel rows of terraced red-brick 2-story houses. Student quarter Drayton Park

Design & Access Statement . . . page 10 Site Analysis - Character Areas

Local ‘character areas’ - continued

St Mary Magdalene Conservation Area

LB of Islington describe the conservation area as ‘of special architectural and historic interest, with a character and appearance that is worthy of protection and enhancement.’

The London Metropolitan University campus borders the conservation area in some locations, and several university buildings fall within this designated area. However the site of the existing J-Block building does not fall within the conservation area, nor does it directly face onto it.

London Metropolitan University Campus

A mixture of historic and modern buildings characterised by large floor plates reflecting their educational use. Historic buildings are mainly brick with an industrial character, though some have more elaborate elevational treatment. The most prominent historic building is the Great Hall built in 1897 (now 'The Rocket') which faces onto Holloway Road.

A number of contemporary buildings are architecturally distinctive. The Tower Building at London Met University is the most prominent on the Holloway Road. Built in the Brutalist style, as with many buildings of its time, it divides opinion between those who see it as a concrete monstrosity and those who appreciate it as a example building of this design period. however, the clarity of the original design has been lost by later additions, such as the Technology Tower which was grafted onto its northern side in 2000.

Next to the Tower Building is the Graduate Centre by architect Daniel Libeskind, while much smaller, it punches well above its weight in its visual impact. This building has won awards in the UK and abroad, but Extent of St Mary Magdalene Conservation Area J-Block London Metropolitan University Campus (view from north on Holloway road) despite this, the building divides opinion with less favourable reviews pointing out its lack of specificity to its context.

Design & Access Statement . . . page 11 Site Analysis - Location & development context

Emirates Stadium Holloway Campus - Site approach & Transport links

The principle approach to the university campus is almost exclusively from the Holloway road to the west of the site boundary. J-Block Drayton Park The main pedestrian access to the site is via Holloway road from the overground Station north or south.

The principal public transport link is the Holloway road Underground Station. Also there are bus-stops on major bus-routes directly outside the campus along the Holloway road.

Holloway Road There is no public or visitor car-parking provision on the University campus, a limited number of accessible parking bays are available on request.

The site location is highly visible to passing traffic from a distance on Holloway road, due to the scale of the existing tower building, ‘rocket’ building and graduate centre.

A number of university owned buildings front onto Benwell road, but there is currently no access into these and no approach to the campus from this eastern aspect, with building doors utilised for emergency exit only. Holloway Road Underground Station J-Block

The existing building known as ‘J-Block’ sits within the University site, set away for the principle public roads, and is, for the most part, screened from view from the public realm by the surrounding University buildings, including the Tower and Tech Tower on Holloway road.

As is noted in the description elsewhere within this report, the campus masterplan seeks to address this in the medium/long-term, by opening up the campus to introduce more semi-public realm. 3D computer model of the London Met Holloway Road campus and surrounding context

Holloway road looking north Benwell Road, campus from east, facades of existing London Met buildings Holloway Road Tube station, view towards campus Holloway Road, campus from west, view towards Graduate centre and Rocket building

Design & Access Statement . . . page 12 Site Analysis - Permeability

Site permeability

The area enjoys excellent strategic links but this has come at the cost of local permeability. The A1 is a busy road running north south creating a barrier to east-west movement. It separates the University from Holloway Road tube station, Caledonia Road tube station (though this is a bit of a walk from the University) and student housing to the west.

Main line railways running north from Kings Cross also carve up the area and form distinct edges to character areas. Land use has also played a part in stifling the permeability of the area, in particular the university and the Emirates Stadium. By its nature, the Emirates Stadium is an impermeable land-use, though in fairness, a great deal of investment has gone into providing pedestrian routes either side of the stadium and providing two pedestrian bridges over the railway.

Students’ security concerns combined with privacy concerns of local residents has led to an impermeable London Met University campus with only a few points of controlled entry. Buildings along the perimeter of the campus are generally inward-looking, giving little active frontage to their respective streets. This is a particular problem for Holloway Road which lacks vitality along the length of the campus.

Urban Flow Analysis

The current campus forms an impermeable barrier within the urban grain of this part of the city. Key urban circulation routes pass around the outside of the existing campus site, without any secondary visual or accessible permeability into or through the University Site.

Existing major routes and impermeable urban blocks highlighted Existing urban flow

Existing urban block permeability

Design & Access Statement . . . page 13