Several weeks ago the Bulletin Board reported that a Planning Application had been submitted for the King's Cross Safer Neighbourhood's Team (SNT) from Camden to relocate to 54 -58 York Way (intercetion with Wharfdale Road). Apparently that Application was approved and now a new application has been submitted which details what the shopfront will look like.
If you would like to examine the complete applicaion Click Here. Once there, you can click the tabs to see all the associated information (including a larger version of the proposed shopfront shown below) and comment online if you wish. You can so comment by emailing the Planning Officer directly at planning@islington.gov.uk. (Please note that the formal consultation runs until 11 March.)
This is what the proposed shopfront will look like:
Please note the first comment received below from one of our local residents who feels this proposal should be rejected – not the use…but the look of the buidling. Tony is a respected local architect who feels that this plan must be approved upon to be worthly of the area's Conservation status. Please read his comments below, and if you agree use the link above to make your feelings known to the Planning Department.
Kings Cross Environment 
As a local resident, I wanted to comment to encourage others to object to this proposal.
This is a totally awful design. We deserve better than this in our Conservation Area and next door to a listed building.
Islington Council publish a shopfront guide to help designers achieve at least a reasonable standard which this does not even approach. Also Islington Council has been running an EH funded shopfront scheme in Caledonian Road and elsewhere in the borough for some years which has been very successful in dragging up the standard of shopfront design, and there are many good examples close by, so there is absolutely no excuse for this rubbish.
I those reading this will be encouraged to formal object to the planning application and insist we get something of high standard appropriate to the Conservation Area, whether traditional or modern design.
This can easily be done, but going back to the original posting and following the link that will allow you to make online comments – or by sending an email to planning@islington.gov.uk and mentioning the application number (also in the posting).
If we want to improve things in our area, it’s up to us to show that we care. I hope that all that read this object to this proposal in favour of something better.
All the best
Tony Rees
It is rather drab and bland. It’s a shame we can’t have something a little more up-beat.
Tony – as an architect, it might have been helpful if you had included more specific reasons why you consider this scheme to be unsuitable.
Hi
As I said, this design is just an unco-ordinated mess of bits and pieces with no theme or guiding concept. Given that the architects had a clean sheet it is very dissappointing that they have come up with such an uninspired effort. They have divided the elevation into two shopfronts both of which are different but both equally bad and unrelated to each other, both being combinations of shapes which have no rhythm, proportion or guiding principle. The shopfronts are broken up into awkward sections for no good reason, one has a stall riser and the other hasn’t for instance. They are both far too complicated which achieves nothing but visual confusion. And for some reason odd bits are shown painted blue. All of this put together using bog-standard aluminium shopfront sections so there is no interest or delight to be had in the details. This exactly the sort of thing we should be trying to get away from. A shopfront should be simple and elegant in order to make the maximum impact on the street and to enhance the street scene. A glance at the shopfront to No 60 will illustrate this point. It’s an embarrassing comparison.
All the best
Tony
I was pleased to see ajoining buildings being renovated towards the bottom end of York Way with a number of historic architectural features, in keeping with the conservation area (soon to be a Nandos restaurant).
It was a shame that the columns between the buildings wasn’t in stone like the buildings further south (the tanning salon and bookstore). It was also a shame that the corbel features that were put on as a part of the building’s renovation were quickly removed by Nandos.
It is this sort of architectural detail that makes the conversation area and it’s buildings more interesting.
There are no documents on the Islington website to indicate whether stone columns or corbels were part of the planning application. Does anyone know?
These premises are also going to become the base for the Caledonian Ward Safer Neighbourhood Team. They plan to be moved-in towards the end of the year.
Whilst I agree that the design is very cluttered and likely to undermine the visual integrity of these building, I am also keen to get the police team moved-in. Presently they operate out of Tolpuddle Street and getting the team located within the ward has been a long-term goal backed by Councillors and by the Safer Neighbourhood Panel. It would be regretable if the application failed on these design grounds so I have urged the Met’s premises people to quickly reconsider the design (at risk of a planning refusal).
However, I suspect that, if an application were refused, the Met would just drop the scheme and we would lose the benefits of having our local police team based locally. So, a difficult balance to be achieved.
Corbels returned to the Nando’s shop front.
Does anyone know when the Kings Cross (York Way) Nando’s will be opening?
Sign in the window say 21st April
For the record this application was refused by Islington Council, however the applicant was advised that with some alterations the scheme could be accepted.
Thanks for the update – let’s hope that with the architects being held to doing their job properly, and helping their client to contribute appropriately to the streetscape, we may have a suitable use of York Way!