The Umfreville Road Version of Infill Building

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by James on January 27, 2014 at 12:15

these will be directly opposite me and although it'll be good to see something replace the scruffy old remains of the workshop i'd certainly prefer the Hewitt option too

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maddy on January 27, 2014 at 16:08

Where on Umfreville?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by 2wo1qeh6fxhr3 on January 31, 2014 at 8:43

i agree, i love old buildings (that's why i bought one) but can't stand new mock old ones, much prefer new to look modern, imaginative and exciting, not like cheap nasty social housing, more like beautiful grand designs! sometimes the best developments are imaginative use of the old buildings like what seems to be happening to the old car workshop on wightman road which has an attractive shell and looks to be being rebuilt as an exciting domestic space, personally i'd like that as a single dwelling all open plan and industrial with steel beams and bare bricks and at most put in a mezzanine for sleeping, no doubt though it will be divided into lots of tiny flats/studios. shame the carpentry workshop couldn't have been re-used as it stood.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maddy on January 31, 2014 at 8:51

I agree, we don't have enough imaginative modern housing in London. I took a boat East along the Thames last summer, and the ghastly ranks of eighties-built pseudo-historical housing developments were truly depressing.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Geoff on February 14, 2014 at 10:48

This is a truly grim proposal - typical ticky-tacky toytown aesthetic that seems to get through Haringey Planning these days. A failure of imagination by the developer and, in particular, by the Council who should be insisting on much higher quality new builds in infill sites. This is poor quality design, probably minimum size rooms (to match the pinched doors), probably low as possible building specs, and out of keeping with the vernacular architecture which is characteristic of the Ladder building stock of the turn of the century - and lacking any genuine imaginative architectural qualities.

While is good to see that the rough old workshop is going, it is depressing to see such low quality 'design and build' being proposed (for a quick buck, no doubt) and even worse, being approved. There are similar awful infill schemes that have got through on Stapleton Hall Road and Ferme Park Road - the failure by the Council to reject these schemes and insist on much higher standards is hugely disappointing. This is our built environment legacy and to see it, effectively, being disregarded, is a travesty in terms of how the Planning mechanism works and a failure to fully embrace their responsibilities.

The low-rise proposal for Hewitt Road looks very exciting and ambitious, in contrast - and of course we have a modernist architectural classic round the corner on Wightman Road - St Paul's Church, an incredible architectural gem.

• ▶ Reply