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Theatre Square | Swiss Cottage | 82m | 24 fl | On Hold

31K views 71 replies 27 participants last post by  Unionjack722 
#1 ·
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#7 ·
‘Monstrous Swiss Cottage tower’ will blight view from Hampstead Heath, say conservation group
Ham & High
24 April 2014

Plans to demolish the Ham&High’s office building and replace it with the highest residential tower in Camden would “cast a blight on the whole area – including substantial parts of Hampstead and the Heath”.

The front page of the Hampstead and Highgate Express (April 26, 1963) reporting on strongly objected to plans for 'skyscrapers' to be built a short distance from the Avenue Road tower currently being considered

That is the claim of The Heath and Hampstead Society, which has joined the growing opposition campaign against plans for a 24-storey building at 100 Avenue Road, in Swiss Cottage, submitted by developers Essential Living last month.

The council has since received a barrage of objections over the building’s height, disruption caused by construction work and the pressure on services and amenities due to added housing.

In a letter to the council, The Heath and Hampstead Society said: “The proposal is located a short distance outside the area in which we normally confine our comments, but its impact is such that it would affect many parts of Hampstead, and Hampstead Heath.

“Long-distance views of this tower block would intrude on many historic and publicly important areas.

“The impact of this excessive height on places not only in the vicinity but miles away would be unpleasant and intrusive. It would be visible from as far away as parts of Hampstead Heath.

“There is nothing exciting or interesting about the sight of a tower block, and the thought that it could itself become a precedent for more towers – a Northern Canary Wharf – is quite appalling.”

The society is urging the council to reject the building and a similar call from campaigners – backed by councillors from all parties – has been gaining support.

Members from the Swiss Cottage Action Group were protesting the plans outside the building yesterday (Wednesday).

Monika Caro, whose family home, on the corner of Winchester Road and Adelaide Road, was knocked down to make way for the Chalcots Estate residential development in the 1960s, said it had given some long-term residents a sense of deja vu.

“There was an enormous uproar about the construction of the neighbouring Chalcots Estate tower blocks during the 1960s.

“It was such a beautiful area then.

“I remember the council made a pledge never to build any tower higher because of all the complaints. Now it’s deja vu and we’re having to fight again.”

The scheme would replace the existing six-storey building with a 24-storey tower block joined to a five/seven-storey building, separated by an arcade through to a green space behind the site. The tower would be mostly residential, while the smaller building would accommodate retail space.

There would be 184 flats, 36 of them classed as affordable, and almost 1,000sqm of retail space.

Martin Hughes, spokesman for Essential Living, said: “Our high quality proposals will deliver much-needed new homes, including affordable housing, improved public space and access, as well as providing new jobs and attracting further investment.

“Whilst we recognise that some local concerns have been expressed about the tower element, we firmly believe that it is the right location for a landmark building.”
 
#11 ·
Grid Architects unveils Swiss Cottage tower
Building
9 May 2014

Residential tower in north-west London for developer Essential Living to be built for private rented market

Grid Architects has unveiled plans for one of the UK’s first purpose-built private rented sector schemes in Swiss Cottage, north-west London.

The 24-storey tower at 100 Avenue Road, developed by Essential Living, comprises 148 apartments designed specifically for renters, which will be managed by the London developer.

The scheme also includes a low-rise building above Swiss Cottage tube, as well as ground level retail and leisure space.

Essential Living is backed by M3 Capital Partners, who manage US pension fund money.

Craig Casci, director at Grid Architects, said: “What’s exciting about Essential Living is that we’re designing a new type of product.

“These are homes designed purely for renting and the way people interact with the buildings will be thought of holistically. “This means the ‘home’ begins at the door of the building not at the door of the apartment.

“There’s a high focus on communal areas and on ensuring the ground level commercial space creates a dynamic sense of community.

“Best of all, rather than being penthouse flats, the top floor are used for shared amenity space for residents.”
 
#12 ·
Whilst I am generally supportive of the development, my principal objection arises on account of the lack of thought to vehicular access to the proposed development. The primary vehicular access will be through Winchester Road, which is a narrow local street, and already quite crowded because users of the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre use it to drop off and pick-u. Winchester Road is certainly not designed to handle any more traffic than it already does. These flats will also substantially increase traffic on other quiet neighbourhood streets like Eton Avenue and Adamson Road. The developers would be better advised to provide vehicular access either directly from Swiss Cottage or from Adelaide Road.
 
#20 ·
I think the opposition from a small, vocal group. As a local resident, I am somewhat concerned about vehicular access to the building, and that is about it. Yes, there will be some disruption whilst the construction is on-going, but in my view that is a small price to pay. A quality development will help improve the local area, and help further gentrify it. Smart apartments right next to the tube station and bus stops will attract more young professionals to the area. Their ££ will be welcome to the local businesses in the area. Some higher quality retail and cafe's at the ground level will also be welcomed by the local community.
 
#22 ·
Just refused at Planning Committee, against officer recommendation, on the grounds that its height, bulk and massing would have an overly negative impact on surrounding conservation areas. Also on grounds on too great a density on the site. There were a lot of local people present, representing the 99.6% of members of the public who wrote letters of objection. The 0.4% of letters in favour were not represented. It will likely go to appeal
 
#24 ·
This is not a bad design, its a shame about the brown and yellow cladding down the side of the tower, which is pretty horrible and makes the whole design look cheap. As for the council turning down the design, Swiss cottage is effectively one big council estate, so anything would be better than what is currently built there.
 
#25 ·
It's also a very smart area dense with residential conservation areas. The gyratory is terrible but plans are simmering away to rationalise the traffic and recover more road space for pedestrians. CABE and various design reviews were happy with the tower design and didn't consider it cheap. It would have been clad in brick and reconstituted stone.
 
#26 ·
It sounds like a good quality development. The tower itself is pretty good in my opinion. But the lower rise element looks so similiar to other low rise buildings being designed and built at the moment. It looks more like a college than residential. I wonder if there's any chance the developer will look to locate the scheme elsewhere?
 
#27 ·
i wonder, are we seeing outrage driven in part by the fact the flats were only available to rent. projects like that, although they provide housing, do not provide supply for owner occupiers so help drive up prices further... sticking 150 new rented apartments in an area isn't good for community. home owners are stakeholders in communities in the way that transient renters are not.
 
#28 ·
Not all renters are that transient these days, and the idea of these private rental schemes is to make renting a more long term option by removing the uncertainty of a landlord wanting to sell up, etc. A lot of these companies are providing 3 year leases as standard now too. You almost make it sound like a block of student digs.
 
#29 ·
watch these schemes legislated out of existence post 2015. labour did a white policy on their effects in 2012. you are not aware of retaliatory eviction are you? the present law is so weak that a 3 year lease isn't worth the paper it's written on. until the law changes there is no security of tenure for any tenant. the largest cause of homeless in this country is actually the retaliatory eviction.
 
#30 ·
Yeah I am aware of that and yeah there does need to be legislation against it, but these PRS companies will be sensitive to the effects of bad public relations, and they will know they will become a feature of articles in national newspapers if they do something like that. That's obviously no where near as strong as legislation but at least it provides more safe guards than with some random no-name landlord who owns a couple of flats. I don't see Labour getting rid of PRS as it will restrict supply. Effectively a lot of what housing associations do now is PRS - have you seen some of the high rents charged by Peabody, etc.
 
#31 ·
Developers seek to overturn rejection of Swiss Cottage tower proposal
Ham & High
January 2015​
The developer behind controversial plans to build what would be one of Camden’s tallest residential towers has appealed against a decision by the council to throw out the £100million scheme.

Essential Living this week submitted an appeal to the government’s planning inspectorate to overturn September’s decision, despite some 3,000 people having signed a petition opposing the proposals.

The scheme sees the current building at 100 Avenue Road in Swiss Cottage torn down and replaced with a development which includes a 24-storey residential tower. It would provide 184 flats.

The appeal to the planning inspectorate will see a public inquiry now take place into the scheme.

Residents and parties affected are invited to make comments on the planning inspectorate website (available once the appeal has been verified).

A spokesman for Essential Living said: “We confirm that an appeal against the decision of the London Borough of Camden to refuse our regeneration proposals for 100 Avenue Road has been lodged with the Planning Inspectorate. The proposals will now be considered by an independent Inspector at a Public Inquiry.”
 
#32 ·
Developers and opponents set to meet at public inquiry into Swiss Cottage skyscraper plan
Camden New Journal
10 July 2015​
A public inquiry into a £100million plan to build a soaring 24-storey block of flats in the heart of Swiss Cottage will start on Tuesday – as objectors claim anyone moving in will face annual rent bills of up to £40,000.

The nine-day hearing, prompted after Camden Council’s planning committee threw out the scheme in September, will hear evidence from developers Essential Living explaining why they believe a Whitehall planning inspector should overturn the Town Hall’s decision.

The project would see a 1980s office block called 100 Avenue Road – formerly home to the Ham and High newspaper – demolished and replaced with two blocks of housing. One would be 24 storeys and be used for homes for private rental. Another would be seven storeys and include homes for affordable rent. The new blocks would also include new restaurants, shops and a new home for The Winch community centre.

[continued in link]
 
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