DEMOLITION OF THE HISTORIC LOTUS SHOWROOM IN HORNSEY

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Permalink Reply by Lesley Ramm on February 20, 2015 at 7:01

Also see these postings   http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/demolition-of-colin-cha... and post objections on Haringey council planning application website. 

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Permalink Reply by Peter on February 20, 2015 at 9:18

I am for conservation of historic buildings, but as i learnt from a very wise man sometimes a building is beyond restoration and in such a state that demolition is the best thing for it. I think after what jEWSON have done to this one there is not much to save! 

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Permalink Reply by michaela rourke on February 20, 2015 at 9:29

Absolutely agree Peter - sometimes I think you have to admit things aren't worth fighting over and just let them go. Nobody's cared about it for a long time, why now? 

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Permalink Reply by John D on February 20, 2015 at 12:49

Actually, there's nothing wrong with the building ( I've been inside ) - it's sound and dry : it's just not been used for a long time. But, there is nothing left to indicate that Lotus were ever there - no drawings, no engineering machinery, no post-it notes signed by Chapman saying " someone please stock up on tea bags ".

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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on February 20, 2015 at 11:10

Although I suppose that a good case could be made for showing the history of Lotus Cars, I would say that this would be best be done in the context of a more general museum dedicated to cars or to racing car engineering.  So far as I am aware, the interesting thing about Lotus was the novelty of the designs and the early versions sold in kit form for assembly by the buyer.  It is hard to imagine any vehicle being memorialised through a former showroom.  It’s the man, the designs and the cars themselves that need to be shown where many potentially interested people already go.  In my view, this terrible old building at the entrance of a building supplies depot has nothing to recommend it at all and I can’t help wondering whether Chris J Arnold is having us on.  Has someone bet him he can’t get ten responses on HoL?

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Permalink Reply by matthew cuthbert on June 8, 2015 at 15:04

Once you are inside there are the offices upstairs in tact which overlook the mechanics workshop area, there are winches attached to the roof frame where the motors would have been hoisted into place, with room for two vehicles. The cab repair garages down the side of the Railway Tavern had a lot of knowledge of Lotus in Hornsey, 15 years back there was a garage which did sports car repairs, and they had first hand memories of Chapman.
If it is demolished, the building should be documented properly. It has an asbestos roof so Jewson's use it for storage of plastic pipes now, (not open to the public.)

I always imagined two cars on display in the workshop, displays, books and models for sale, & copies of the Chapman Papers, (Lotus inventory, records and correspondence from that era,)

The Lotus museum should be established in Hornsey, it is part of our contemporary history.

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Permalink Reply by Heidi on February 28, 2015 at 12:50

I had no idea there was an old LOTUS showroom in the area. Always amazed that these things are kept so quiet and seemingly not interesting to most - even in this post. I think it should be saved, restored and used as a heritage site of some sort, albeit small. To be fair, I don't know the background enough to this one to comment perhaps - but a museum and archive of this motoring history together with perhaps a functioning workshop for young (and old) people learning mechanics. Would be useful to know if there is a website / historical info. UK motoring industry/history is important, and many museums exist and are very popular, well visited, look at Bugatti UK trust, other transport museums and links in for example Coventry. Perhaps funding can be sought from motoring/Lotus enthusiasts?

CAN SOMEONE POST THE ACTUAL LINK TO OBJECT ON THE HARINGEY COUNCIL WEBSITE PLEASE? 

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Permalink Reply by John D on March 1, 2015 at 0:45

A group  http://colinchapmanmuseum.org.uk/ tried to do exactly that Heidi, five or six years ago. The problem is the  land and the buildings belong to Jewsons ( or is perhaps leased by them ) and Jewsons don't see why they should give them up.

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Permalink Reply by matthew cuthbert on June 8, 2015 at 21:41

I visited the site a while back and there is enough detail in the building to restore it to its full glory, the Jewson's site, like Harringay is not the best use of land even as a building depot, the site is spread out, and could generate more local employment, so other uses for the Jewson's site overall should be considered. The concept for a museum site should be considered further to generate interest in Hornsey.

Here are the reasons for the objection, thankfully the council have seen reason, we should see this as a wake up call and start to act to restore the building, do they have planning for the signage which covers and obscures the showrooms identity? I'm surprised Jewson don't work with the building as a display for their products it was a show room after all.

http://www.planningservices.haringey.gov.uk/portal/servlets/Attachm...

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 9, 2015 at 12:19

Matthew, as an aside, I learnt recently that Lotus' first administrative office was in the well-known Richardson's building in the busy Archway Road (in Highgate Ward). This building has been in the Richardson family and used as a furniture store for some 100 years.

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Permalink Reply by Heidi on June 12, 2015 at 12:50

Good to see there is positive development from Haringey Planning. Please keep us posted on any news as it is still unclear what will happen to the building.

I went to see it today. Is there a group working on this? I work at Coventry University and we have strong links to the UK automotive/design industry and may be interested in collaborations. 

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Permalink Reply by John D on June 12, 2015 at 16:49

http://colinchapmanmuseum.org.uk/

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