Another one bites the dust...

[MOCAŠ]

I was saddened to see last week that another piece of London's motoring heritage had disappeared. The elegant, neo-Georgian building (above) that used to house Standard-Triumph's flagship showroom at its north end, has been razed to the ground, to be replaced by a new office/retail block.

I would like to think that someone had the good sense to preserve the original 1920s showroom windows that could still be seen alongside Three Kings Yard, but I fear are now lost. With the building not having been worthy of listing, English Heritage raised no objection when the planning consent was under consideration.

Being that this falls within the Mayfair Conservation area, the new building will bear a passing resemblance to that which it replaces (Portland stone on the ground floor, red brick above) but it will be no more than a pale immitation.

Incidentally, this is the third building in Davies Street to fall since the turn of the Millennium. Another 1920s neo-Georgian block, once home to the British Council, was demolished last year to make way for Crossrail, while around ten years ago a rather less appealing 1960s block at the southern end of the street was replaced by the terracotta-clad building that houses celebrity haunt Cipriani's and the Gagosian gallery. Hopefully that'll be it, for a while at least...

 

[neilz]

That's a real shame, why raze such a smart building?

 

[MOCAŠ]

The problem is what lies behind the facade: three separate buildings with slightly differing floor levels, but more importanty, insufficient space between the floors to accommodate modern services (air con, networking, etc). This is usually what sounds the death knell for office buildings.

 

[MOCAŠ]

To illustrate the above point, this is the previous building (viewed from the southern end):

and this is how its replacement will look:

You can see how the first three storeys above ground level will occupy the same height as four storeys of the next-door buidling in Grosvernor Street (whose ground floor, now the Mayfair Post Office, was originally the London showroom of Frazer Nash).

 

[Mr B.]

it happing everywhere

 

[Igurisu]

Destroying our nations heritage and legacy

 

[Mike Walker]

Economics rule in most of these situations. It may be difficult to understand but it is often financially viable for a Developer to purchase a site like the one above, demolish the building at little cost - particularly if it is built of materials that have reclamation value - and construct a new one to meet or better current office rental requirements.

With the construction sector struggling for work tender prices will be low so no reason not to redevelop.

The moral / aesthetic / planning issues are, of course, seperate topics but don't tell Developers!

 

[Scott_F]

Whilst the building does form a small part of our motoring heritage it really isn't particularly elegant. At the risk of appearing a philistine it's actually a very ordinary piece of early 20th century design.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Whilst the building does form a small part of our motoring heritage it really isn't particularly elegant. At the risk of appearing a philistine it's actually a very ordinary piece of early 20th century design.

I always tend to shed a tear when one of the buildings associated with our motoring history disappears, especially when it's one of the flagship London showrooms. There are so many images of of these buildings filled with cars of the era, and it's somehow reassuring to be know that while the cars and even the company are long gone, their spiritual home remains.

I find it remarkable that those showroom side windows survived right until the end, despite several re-fits of the building (it was last occupied by Coturelab, and before them Strutt & Parker), and it pains me to think of a wrecking ball smashing its way through them.

As for the building itself, you're right in as much as that it had little intrinsic architectural merit, but I do feel it sat very well within its surroundings and was obvioiusly designed to be sympathetic to its Georgian near-neighbours. The Portland base, brick upper storeys (with their classically-proportioned lights) and mansard roof allowed it punch above its weight in that respect.

However, as Mr Walker says above, as unlisted office block it was always going to be at risk, and I'm not one to stand in the way of progress. I just wish those windows could have been saved* and incorporated into the new building, to provide a link with the past.

* Perhaps I'm just being pessimistic, though - I will try to find out whether they were in fact saved.

 

[Mike Walker]

Mocas - please feel free to call me Mike. Mister sounds so formal dear boy!

 

[MOCAŠ]

Breaking news: the first occupants of the premises were none other than... British Mercedes-Benz Ltd, the London-based subsidiary of the then newly-formed Daimler-Benz AG.

The British embrace the motor car | Daimler Global Media Site > Classic > Daimler AG

 

[corned]

I always tend to shed a tear when one of the buildings associated with our motoring history disappears, especially when it's one of the flagship London showrooms.

I can identify with that. In fact I tend to take it a little further. I hate to see old airfields demolished, or redeveloped with housing and/or industrial estates. So sad.

But, much like the buildings you mention, what else could you do with them if they can't be put to use in their intended purpose?

 

[corned]

To illustrate the above point, this is the previous building (viewed from the southern end):

and this is how its replacement will look:

At least a token effort was made to resemble the previous building.

Below is a favourite bug-bear of mine. I used to live near Wellington in Shropshire. In the '50s or '60s (well before my time there) they had a splendid building which was senselessly demolished and replaced with a small 'modern' office block. This was done by the local council, all in the name of progress.

Before:

After:

 

[Mike Walker]

They look pretty similar to me - just off to Specsavers!

 

[Palfrem]

Birmingham had some splendid old buildings that got razed in the quest for the perfect concrete eyesore

 

[martin_a]

Worth a look on www.28dayslater.co.uk for some old stuff in need of help.

m.

 

[BTB 500]

There was a big development near here (Aldwych) where the facade was retained and a completely new building put behind it. Looked very odd indeed after the demolition phase - like one of those Hollywood film sets (just the front of a building)!

I also find it very sad when old buildings get flattened. I flew radio controlled models for years at Hanworth Air Park without really being aware of the history of the site. I read an article about it in Aeroplane Monthly and went over straight afterwards to see what I could see. The wooded area in the centre of the field still contained some derelict buildings and skeletal hangers. I actually managed to get some aerial photos (from one of my models) before they got demolished a few years later.

 

[MOCAŠ]

They look pretty similar to me - just off to Specsavers!

As mentioned, that's due to the fact that it will stand within the Mayfair Conservation Area, so it's required to blend in (although that didn't seem to be such a consideration for the Cipriani block, with its terracotta façade). A previous proposal was refused planning permission in 2007. This was of a similar design to the one that is now to be built, except that the central section of the elevation facing onto Davies Street was to have a large glass-paned area that could be used for displays of public art. This gave the building an overall look that fell between two stools: half tradtional, half modern, and the two simply didn't gel.

The new design is ostensibly similar to the demolished building, but it could have been a vritual facsimilie above ground level if they'd tried a little harder. I accept that at ground level they needed to maximise retail space, so where the old building(s) had three separate entrances (in addition to those for the shop-spaces), the new one has a single integrated lobby providing access to the upper floors. But the new upper storeys all look a bit plain now, and the roof isn't a patch on the previous building's mansard design. Still, it could have been a lot worse.

 

[MOCAŠ]

There was a big development near here (Aldwych) where the facade was retained and a completely new building put behind it. Looked very odd indeed after the demolition phase - like one of those Hollywood film sets (just the front of a building)!

This happens a lot, as in many cases preservation orders apply just to the façade and the impact the building will have on the streetscape. There's a house in Addison Road (W14) that was reduced to a shell about a year or so ago, with a new property being built into it. This has also happened to several others around RBKC, as new owners find that they can't make effective use of the original (mainly Victorian) layouts.

In fact, this was one of the options considered for the Davies St building, so there were clearly some that felt it was worth keeping the neo-Georgian façade. However, being a commercial property, it was the insufficient inter-floor space that sealed its fate.

 

[corned]

They look pretty similar to me - just off to Specsavers!

As mentioned, that's due to the fact that it will stand within the Mayfair Conservation Area, so it's required to blend in

I suspect Mike's comment was directed at my post with the beautifully blended in concrete nightmare pictured. Hence the Specsavers comment...