art deco factory demolished

[steveo]

OK, this is off manor, but could we get someone in the council strung up by the goolies for allowing this to be demolished?

[dukesdenver]

Is that the one in Ladywell? A shame.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Eat your heart out - they demolished the beautiful Peckham Bus Garage with nary a hiccough.

[Marmora Man]

Perhaps as some form of global ethical / architectural balancing the council could ensure that Peckham Rye station is restored to its former glory.

[rememberwhen]

Nobody in Lewisham Council needs to be strung up.

The Adhesive Specialities building was altered in the early 80s in the style of Art Deco.

Underneath it was pure 60s.

[ianr]

The following is from the St Mary's conservation area supplementary planning document adopted by Lewisham Council on 12 December 2006.

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/615672DD-8DB1-466B-B7C7-6A5D68CAA9DE/0/StMarysSupplementaryPlanningDocument.pdf (PDF 319k)

"Former Adhesives Specialities Ltd, 59 Ladywell

Road. Locally listed. This building was built in the

1930s as Neuk Laundry in a simple ?Moderne? style

by a local builder, Mr Howkins. It was altered in

1988-9 by another local firm, Rainey and Rainey,

which added metal windows and a clock and

heightened the parapets, giving the building a

more Art Deco style. This is a building type that is

uncommon in the conservation area as well as across

the borough and it is a popular local landmark.

It relates well to the scale of buildings in the area

and is a focal point at the beginning of the bridge.

For these reasons, it makes a positive contribution

to the character and appearance of the conservation.

Any development on this site should therefore retain

the main body of the Art Deco building, although

development may be possible to the remainder of

the site."

There's also an Excel document (53k) containing the ?related public consultation comments http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/EA81DC84-3252-4B64-9E01-17EA19F60744/0/Item8appendix429November2006.xls, which contains these responses by the council:

"For a building to be listed [by English Heritage], it must be "of special architectural or historic interest" on a national scale. For a building to be included in a conservation area, it needs only to be considered to contribute to the character or appearance of the conservation area. In this case, the building is cherished, is locally listed, and makes a positive contribution to the character of the area; therefore it is considered that it does merit inclusion in conservation area." and

"Outside conservation areas, demolition does not require planning permission, so at present the Adhesives building can be demolished without any consent. However, once in the conservation area, conservation area consent is needed for demolition. A planning application has been made for redevelopment of this building which will be determined under policy at the time of the decision. If the building is subsequently included in the conservation area, consent will then be needed for demolition."

[silverfox]

steveo, what possible benefit to mankind would the preservation of this old building have? How much would it cost to keep the rats dry? Who pays for it?

Demolish and move on

[H.Astaire]

'Demolish and move on' is such a sad way to look at our classic british buildings. Any art deco building that survived ww2 should be treasured. That's why we have organisations such at British Heritage and the RIBA !! I bet they building an ugly block of flats or offices that only last a few years before crumbling.

[ianr]

If you want to see the history of the planning applications, go to http://acolnet.lewisham.gov.uk/lewis-xslpagesdc/acolnetcgi.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.pgesearch, enter 59 Ladywell Road in the Location field, and Search. In fact there were repeated demolition refusals from 2003 to 2006, then permission granted, conditional on redevelopment, etc, in 2007, with further applications right up to this year. The latest ones are still stated to be pending. Whether this is a case of the records not being up-to-date, or of someone having jumped a gun, I've no idea. You're right about flats.

[DulwichFox]

Ok we are all a bit sentimental when it comes down to the destruction of familiar landmarks.

Was the builing Practical for any new usage.

Difficult to heat, Green Footprint

Needs rewiring?,

Needs re-plumbing?,

Needs Asbestos removal?.

Need to control what is put in it's place.