Like For Like, NOT – 2nd of a Series

 

 

The principal of repairs like-for-like is a familiar in building maintenance.  In the case of listed buildings it is more important as changing the materials and colours can have an effect on the character of the buildings.

In 2011 at Hatfield House on the Estate they replaced panels of in shiny plastic sheeting and said it proposed to replace more. The Loss Assessors have been shown correspondence relating to this. In response to complaints by residents the Corporation of London officer then responsible for the work wrote:

“We are having a problem sourcing the correct materials for this type of work….  Therefore I took the decision to use the Perspex panels as a way to maintain the appearance of the Golden Lane Estate and individuals homes instead of just covering the areas in ply/fibreboard.  Which of course might affect any on-going property sales.”

The shiny bright blue perspex in the centre of this image was said to be a temporary repair more than a DECADE ago – in March 2012 – but which is still in place. There is apparently no strategy for dealing with such repairs. Similar panels in primary colours clad many buildings of the Golden Lane Estate.

 

An Urban Village

Former Golden Lane resident Stefi Orazi has produced a fine new book: Golden Lane Estate – An Urban Village. Containing history (an essay from architectural historian Elain Harwood), interviews with long-standing and more recent residents, superb specially commissioned photos by Mary Gaudin and Julian Wood, plus smart design by Orazi herself, the book has become a firm favourite on the shelves of the Loss Assessors.

Its a reminder of the days when the City of London was ambitious and thoughtful enough to commission and build the Estate; and of the days when they cared enough about it to look after it properly.

Published by Batsford, London, 2021

ISBN 978-1-84994-594-1

The Shabby Northern Gateway to the City of London

In the medieval period the City of London was proud of its entrances. Gatehouse of some grandeur were constructed at all of the gates in showy often quirky style of architecture and the one nearest the Golden Lane Estate was the Aldersgate, one of the more fanciful designs.

You might have thought that Crescent House, at the northern gateway to the City of London and with the City of London arms emblazoned on both ends of it might be looked after – at least in a superficial way.

But pedestrains passing the shops along the lowest part of Goswell Road, a few metres into the City and running under Crescent House, have to pass along a poorly lit and threatening graffiti covered tunnel. That the shutters are there at all, without benefit of listed building consent and attached to a Grade II* listed building is remarkable. The Listed Building Management Guidelines for the Golden Lane Estate make specific reference to the need to replace these with internal shutters which come down behind the shopfront glass, in stead of in front. But as in so many things the Guidelines are ignored.

The City of London also turns a blind eye to the replacement of the original mahogony timber shop doors and windows with generic and unsightly replacements in upv faced metal.

The City of London own the freehold of this building; they rent and manage the shops through their in-house surveyors and their legal department drafted the leases under which the shops are held; they benefit from rents from them as well as business rates; and the City of London is the planning authority for this area. Yet they chose to do nothing.

This is a fine illustration of how there is one standard of management for the Barbican and another—wholly inferior—standard of management for the Golden Lane Estate.