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Building Design [ link ] The Foundry Hackney to demolish Foundry to make way for Squire & Partners' Art'otel The Foundry, a popular arts centre and bar in Shoreditch, east London, is to be demolished after Hackney Council granted planning permission last night to a controversial hotel building designed by Squire & Partners. By Anna Winston 4 February, 2010

The Foundry, a popular arts centre and bar in Shoreditch, east London, is to be demolished after Hackney Council granted planning permission last night to a controversial hotel building designed by Squire & Partners. The proposed 18-storey cylindrical building, for hotel chain Art’otel, will house 350 rooms, a gallery, art house cinema, spa and a restaurant on the double-height top floor and will be clad in bronze-coloured anodised aluminium. Hackney Council granted the scheme permission despite strong criticism from Cabe and English Heritage. English Heritage said: “We believe that there is no justification for a tall building of this nature in this location... The proposals are a fundamentally flawed response.” Heritage campaigner and editor of Cornerstone magazine, Robin Stummer, also wrote to English Heritage ahead of the planning meeting, urging it to spot list the existing 1950s building because of its role as a crucible of the Britart movement. The 1950s Foundry building was important to the Britart movement. The plans, which involve relocating a large mural by Banksy painted on the walls of the existing building, have also been faced with strong opposition from the artistic community and 3200 people have signed a Facebook petition against the demolition. A statement issued today by Squire & Partners said the practice had repeatedly presented its scheme to the local design review panel and had used the panel’s comments to inform the final proposal. "The team were not given the opportunity to present the Art'otel to Cabe at design review, but take account of their comments and suggestions," it added. Boris Ivesha, CEO of Art’otel parent company Park Plaza Hotels, said: "We can now build a world-class hotel that will be a showcase for artists and bring jobs to Shoreditch." comments - Steve Green 4 February, 2010 Park Plaza has a good record of delivering high quality hotels (as in Waterloo), so I think the concerns are overblown. At the end of the day, the leaders of Hackney decided that this hotel will make a positive contribution to the area. I don't see any reason to second-guess their judgement. - -t 4 February, 2010 As an architect living in Hackney and regular user of the Foundry, I attended the planning meeting lat night. I am dissapointed in the council's decision for a number of reasons; the popularity of the space, the building itself - exemplary of its period of which I feel is important to retain in a very interesting conservation area, and the sheer naivity displayed by the planners and the council regarding the project. Typical of Squire and Partners work, the design is large scale, mediocore commercialism. A building that will symbolise the extention of the city at Shoreditch's expense........Art'otel - how corney. - Gramsci 4 February, 2010 I love the Foundry, but it is obvious that it was due for some kind of change... BUT THIS!!!! That is awful "look at me, look at meee." (Kath and Kim accent) architecture of the worst kind. Everybody involved should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. - NR 4 February, 2010 And here we have the problem with all design reviews- they are mainly about the new build, not the wider planning issues or the merits of the existing, but then the results are cited in order that bad schemes are pushed through planning. CABE has a great deal for which to answer. There was once a Commons Select Committee on this very issue, but nothing much has altered has it Paul Finch? - MAciej 4 February, 2010 should this get built and the Foundry erased, schoreditch, and London in general will be the poorer for it. Putting aside the fact that the proposed scheme and typology doesn't respond to any bit of the context what so ever, it adds nothing to the nature of the PLACE. I love the Foundry, and agree with an earlier comment that it needs a one over, but this scheme would erase a hub of many sorts for many people in the area. its a bloody shame, and shame is what the council should feel... short-sighted bunch a £"$%! - Temoor Ahmad 4 February, 2010 Sorry to have to say this, but that looks absolutely awful. - S Roberts 4 February, 2010 Could the existing facade / part of the base building be kept, whilst creating a new upper building? Combining the new with the old? It would make for a richer tapestry in the location. - Oz D 4 February, 2010 I've been to the Foundry a many times - it is an incredibly uncomfortable, overrated place full of vagrants and/or trendy wannabes - the building is incredibly ugly, untended and untidy - and in such an important location... It needs to go... - Cris 4 February, 2010 Steve Green: Are you being sarcastic? - johnno 4 February, 2010 The council can charge higher taxes for the hotel than they can for the foundry. for them that is a no brainer. For us well tis a stiff middle finger. - thom 5 February, 2010 thats a 2:2 at undergrad (from a school about to lose its validation). - Veronica Cassin 5 February, 2010 it's very difficult to understand what specific and appropriate contributions this inward-looking built object is going to make to the broader context of the streetscape and local community. it's frustrating that the media representations for the building relies on one 'visualisation' which can't accurately describe heights, proportions and spatial compositions. - Steve Green 5 February, 2010 Hackney Council rightly took a long term view. This corner of London needs some regeneration. It's dirty and scruffy. The Art'otel acknowledges the artistic history of the area, while bringing local standards up. The kebab places on the same street are a health hazard, in time these will also be replaced by higher quality restaurants. This evolution is to be welcomed. The creatives will find somewhere else to peddle their stuff. - Philip Kenyon 5 February, 2010 I live in Shoreditch very close to the site, and this is excellent news. Like most urban-dwellers in the UK, local residents are fed up with being surrounded by bars and their problems, and would much prefer to encourage nicer regeneration (shops, boutiques etc) which is exactly what Art'otel will bring. I look forward to this welcome transformation of the site. - George Morgan 5 February, 2010 Philip Kenyon, why on earth did you move to Shoreditch if you don't like bars? Had you previously moved to Hampstead then decided you didn't like hills? Dirt, scruff, kebabs, beer and art is what this area is FOR. Go and live in west London if you don't like it. Such crass comercial homogenisation will kill the area's soul. - Nabil 5 February, 2010 This is one incredibly stupid move and one super ugly building. George Morgan, I agree with you 100%! The problem is that the gentrification of the area started a long time ago with the destruction of one half of Spitalfields market. Now we have folks like Steve Green and Philip Kenyon, coming in with their patronising views on 'vagrants' and 'creatives peddling their stuff' (the Daily Mail couldn't make that line up!), wishing to wipe out all that is interesting about the area and replacing it with 'high-end restaurants (like Strada and Giraffe, for God's sake!) The horror would be that of the area looking exactly like banal Notting Hill and dullsville Kensington: Nice, posh and bleeding dull as ditchwater! . But this is proof that money is all that matters. The Dubai-sation of the East End continues. - Charles Batsworth 6 February, 2010 Areas like Shoreditch and Dalston are only left grubby to provide a facile justification for crude 'regeneration'. And from some of the comments here it seems to work quite well as a tactic. Hackney's leaders are motivated only by the desire for ever bigger, cash generating buildings and turning the borough into a slick soulless non-place. And when the ghastly cliche 'world-class' gets used to describe a project, I defy anyone not to cringe particularly in combination with the risibly contrived "Art'otel". Hopefully there aren't too many artists undiscriminating and desperate enough to associate themselves with this. - Brennan 6 February, 2010 Look, can everyone just SPELL for a second? - P Diddy 9 February, 2010 I have to agree with Temoor, it looks awful. Reminiscent of a defective R2D2 unit in the first StarWars movie. Fine, build a new culturally aware hip art hotel, but please, use your brains.