[london lad]

like what? Give me an example of something 'half decent' that could've been built here?

Judging from his previous posts, something Georgian.

 

[LondonerN1]

Some more phone pictures of the development, which is rapidly taking shape.

The student blocks following the curve of East Road:

The new public space separating the hotel (on the right) from the rest of the development:

It's hard to get decent photos on a phone camera!

The hotel hugging the Three Crowns pub... you can't see from this picture, but the red brick cladding has already been started:

View from the other side of Old Street roundabout:

 

[HeartDeco]

Thanks Londoner1. :cheers2:

The design's not all that groundbreaking, but I like how this development adds real density to the area. I'm also glad they are keeping/renovating the Three Crowns pub.

I agree with Delores and Hazeley. I think London could do with more buildings like these: high density, urban, imposing residential blocks a la New York.

 

[LondonerN1]

Time for an update!

Unfortunately the sky was dark grey when I took these, so they're a tad dull.

Looking down East Road towards Old Street roundabout:

View of the back of the development:

From East Road:

Cladding on the hotel:

From City Road:

 

[LazyOaf]

Great photos! The cladding on the hotel is looking class and will contrast well with the red brick used on the rest of the development. :cheers:

 

[eddyk]

I love how the little pub remains.

 

[LazyOaf]

I really hope the brick they use isn't soulless like the building to the right on the last picture

 

[LondonerN1]

I really hope the brick they use isn't soulless like the building to the right on the last picture

The brick looks more textured and brighter than that used on the 90s building alongside. There are two shades – a traditional red, and a browner tone (similar to the pub).

I thought it might be helpful to get a sense of the scale of the development by taking a picture from another location:

 

[high_flyer]

I think this is a good development, has made a big impact on the local skyline, we can see it from our office roof terrace in Spitalfields.

Old Street desperately needs some high density, new developments to spruce the area up. If Boris, Dave and Gideon are really genuine about turning the area into 'Silicon Roundabout' and attracting blue-chip media and internet companies, they need to pump a lot of money into it...

 

[Guest]

I really hope the brick they use isn't soulless like the building to the right on the last picture

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

 

[LondonerN1]

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Seriously, the quality of brick used is miles better, in a different league to the 90s effort.

There's variation in the colours so it's far less flat-looking. I'll try to take a photo when I get a chance.

 

[billrob]

I think London could do with more buildings like these: high density, urban, imposing residential blocks a la New York. I can dream!

...which is, I think, what we're seeing happen gradually, with schemes like this and all the high-rises around Stratford and Docklands. As I understand it, the original Thames Gateway project to build thousands of new homes along the Thames Estuary, way out into Essex and Kent, has now been revised so that the same number of homes will be built within Greater London, with east London accommodating the most, due to its having been relatively low-density up until now, with many brownfield sites. Correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[SF-02]

...which is, I think, what we're seeing happen gradually, with schemes like this and all the high-rises around Stratford and Docklands. As I understand it, the original Thames Gateway project to build thousands of new homes along the Thames Estuary, way out into Essex and Kent, has now been revised so that the same number of homes will be built within Greater London, with east London accommodating the most, due to its having been relatively low-density up until now, with many brownfield sites. Correct me if I'm wrong...

That makes complete sense if that's the case, so knowing our politicians probably isn't.

Always thought the gateway scheme seemed flawed. Thousands more people living in Barret boxes travelling in from Essex and Kent to London would've been a transport nightmare. And what business would have set up out in Kent and Essex. That decentralisation plan was adopted post WW2 and failed. Not that their isn't a need for housing there of course, but the proportion seemed way too high given the huge number of disused or underutilised brownfield sites in Zones 2-6 in London.

 

[kerouac1848]

Yep, that is exactly what I though. It was a classic case of pushing something that most didn't want (bar the developer). Turning large parts of Kent and Essex into medium dense sprawl is dumb. We should be building fewer but larger houses there.

 

[LondonerN1]

This area is already quite dense, but it's going to get denser:

New tower for Shoreditch Park

For those that don't know the area, Shoreditch Park is just up the road from the East Road development.

My only beef with the East Road development is that it has now obscured the view of the Shard that I had from my flat

 

[Guest]

This area is already quite dense, but it's going to get denser:

New tower for Shoreditch Park

For those that don't know the area, Shoreditch Park is just up the road from the East Road development.

My only beef with the East Road development is that it has now obscured the view of the Shard that I had from my flat

My bus goes past there. Who on earth would want to live there? The area is one massive council estate.

 

[LondonerN1]

My bus goes past there. Who on earth would want to live there? The area is one massive council estate.

Yes, the worst part of which is to be demolished and rebuilt, using the tower to help fund the regeneration of the social housing.

The area has a lot going for it: the site for this development is next to the Gainsborough Studios, it's positioned between the park and the Regent's Canal, it has a leisure centre, plus Islington and Shoreditch are close by. Much of the canalside has been utterly transformed in recent years, and there's still a huge amount of potential.

 

[LondonerN1]

This development has topped out: http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=2907

Does anyone know how I can change the title of this thread to T/O?

Meanwhile, here's a pic I took today from Pitfield Street, with New Roman House the nearer of the two skeletal developments, and Eagle House the one behind...

And another from East Road...

 

[LondonerN1]

A few people were asking about the brickwork on this development. Most of the hotel has now been uncovered, so here are a couple of iPhone snaps showing how it looks:

I think it looks a bit austere currently... I'm sure it will look better when the whole building is complete (with the street-level parts adding context).

 

[Rational Plan]

At the moment, it's looking better than the rendering.