Dear Supporters, I'd like to share with you all the following eloquent objection to the Resolution proposals, sent to Tower Hamlets Council by the East End Preservation Society. Piotr Lanoszka Planning Department Tower Hamlets Council Mulberry Place 5 Clove Crescent London E14 2BG Dear Piotr Lanoszka, Wickham House, 69-89 Mile End Road and 10 Cleveland Way, London, E1 Application reference: PA/14/03547 We wish to register our strong objection to the proposals to the former Wickhams Department Store (or Dept. W as the applicants call it) and the Spiegelhalter façade. The elements of the scheme which are unacceptable are: 1. The demolition of the remaining Spiegelhalters façade which will cause substantial harm to the Stepney Green Conservation Area (a designated heritage asset) as well as harm to the significance of the former Department Store building (an undesignated heritage asset). 2. The proposed changes to the former Wickhams Department Store, particularly the roof extension. These changes will also cause harm to the Stepney Green Conservation Area and to the significance of the building. Context and Significance The Mile End Road has a number of remarkable architectural gems along its length which set a very high standard for the quality of any new architecture here. Wickhams Department Store is an especially grand and handsome Beaux-Arts building, designed to compete with the great west London department stores. The applicant’s Heritage Statement states that the building is of considerable historic and architectural interest and implies that despite two failed listing applications, it is nevertheless of potentially listable quality. We agree with this assessment and consider the fact that it is not locally listed an extraordinary oversight. Its relationship with the Spielgelhalters building is one of the best-known architectural compositions in the country and, as has been widely noted in the press, epitomises the individual spirit of the East End. Unlike much of the excellent restoration work that has been carried out to the historic buidings along Mile End Road, Wickhams Department Store and the Spielgelhalters remain in need of refurbishment and offer a great opportunity for sensitive restoration and enhancement, as noted in the Stepney Green Conservation Area Appraisal. Objections 1. Demolition of Spiegelhatlers’ Façade The proposals utterly misunderstand what makes this building significant and as a result the designs are completely inappropriate. The applicants refer to the surviving façade as the ‘Spiegelhalters void’ throughout the Design and Access Statement. It is however not a void and treating it as one makes a nonsense of the design of the former Wickhams Department Store. The remaining façade of Spiegelhalters is apparently sound and should be sensitively reincorporated into any new scheme; and the differences in scale and design between the two building should be respected as part of their significance. The beautiful nineteenth-century shopfront shown in the c.1981 photograph should ideally also be restored (was planning permission granted for its removal?). 2. Proposed changes to the Wickhams Department Store The re-use of this building is welcomed. Very little of its interior survives which provides a great deal of scope in the remodelling of its interior. The scheme however goes too far and harms the character of this elegant building. The very sensible suggestions made in the Heritage Statement regarding the use of the tower as the main entrance and the restoration of the Spiegelhalters façade have been ignored by the applicant. The following are the main points of objection: The proposed 5th floor makes the roof extension far too tall, overwhelming the architectural composition below and challenging the prominence of the tower. Moving the entrance to the location of the Spiegelhalters façade is counterintuitive when the tower naturally indicates the position of the entrance. The unspecified re-use of the glass domes within the rebuilt building is essentially meaningless as it cannot be enforced. Proper plans showing how these will be dismantled, stored and then reincorporated need to be submitted with the application. There are also a number of missed opportunities within the scheme in that the accurate restoration of the original shopfront design would be incomparably more impressive than the proposed steel shopfronts and the restoration of the decorative anthemions on the left hand parapet should also be included as part of the proposals. Policy This application contravenes the following policies: NPPF: Paragraph 132 states: When considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset’s conservation. The more important the asset, the greater the weight should be. Significance can be harmed or lost through alteration or destruction of the heritage asset or development within its setting. As heritage assets are irreplaceable, any harm or loss should require clear and convincing justification. Paragraphs 133 and 134 are also relevant in terms of the justifying harm to a heritage asset. In this instance substantial harm would be caused to Stepney Green Conservation Area. Policy 7.8 from the London Plan states: D. Development affecting heritage assets and their settings should conserve their significance, by being sympathetic to their form, scale, materials and architectural detail. The following are the relevant extracts from the Stepney Green Conservation Area Appraisal: Opportunities and Potential for Enhancement: The former Wickham’s Department Store is a key asset of the area. The sensitive and appropriate re-use of this building would improve the character of this stretch of Mile End Road. Any other threats to the Conservation Area: The unsympathetic refurbishment/redevelopment of Wickham’s Department Store. The loss of Wickham’s and Spiegelhalters would have a very detrimental impact upon the character of the conservation area and so the situation will be closely monitored. We therefore recommend you to refuse this application. Yours sincerely, William Palin (Administrator) On behalf of the East End Preservation Society 24 Hanbury Street London E1 6QR Victorian Society Ancient Monuments Society SAVE Britain’s Heritage Spitalfields Trust English Heritage