Observer building reaches for the sky

Design proposals for bringing the former Observer building back into useful occupation have been made public. Bernard McGinley sees the build-up to something big.

When Decimus Burton, co-founder of St Leonards-on-Sea, died in 1881, he left money in his will for his arch at Hyde Park Corner – the Wellington Arch – to be altered. The out-of-scale statue of Wellington (inflicted by a later committee on top) was to be removed so that the arch would no longer be the detested eyesore and laughing-stock that it had become.

This duly happened when in a programme of public works both the arch and the statue were moved — the first a little and the other to Aldershot.

There was a sense of déjà vu when redesign proposals for the Observer building in Cambridge Road were recently presented. There’s massing and massing, and this is massive: seven additional storeys.

Hassell Architects has designed it for the Flint Development Group. Though it is still a work in progress, likely features include a public access viewing platform, a rooftop garden, a gym, a cinema, a shop/restaurant, a food market, a gallery and student accommodation.

The planning application is expected to be made soon this summer, with a council decision before the end of the year.

Responses have included a welcome in principle to the idea of regeneration in the Claremont/Cambridge Road/Cornwallis Gardens/Prospect Place area, but dismay at the top-heavy nature of the design and the obstruction of castle views. (Comparisons with Brighton’s i360 Tower, which is exciting local opinion to the west, have also been made.)

Last winter the planning inspector Richard Hollox scrutinised in detail the Local Plan put forward by Hastings Borough Council. Among the findings he made was this:

“Major Modification 3:

The Plan should make it abundantly clear that matters of design are of greater importance than figures of indicative capacity of the various sites. A Policy along the following lines would, I believe, assist the Council in its determination of planning applications particularly where the quality of the site and surroundings is especially high. This consideration is of sufficient importance to qualify the suggested change as a Main Modification. I suggest that it be drafted as follows:

The number of dwellings set out in the Proposed Allocations Policies is purely indicative, showing what might be achieved on each site. Of principal and greater consequence for every scheme, however, will be matters which include the design, height, mass and appearance of the proposed building(s), layout (including the provision of a safe and convenient access), trees and relationship with the surroundings including nearby buildings and views of the Borough’s natural and historic assets (including of Hastings Castle). These considerations, rather than indicative numbers, will provide the guidelines to secure a development worthy of the site and its surroundings.”

That the site is in a conservation area is an additional matter of consideration.

Workshop on heritage regeneration

The future of the Observer building and the nearby White Rock Gardens and other parts of the pier’s hinterland are likely to be discussed in a travelling workshop that comes to the borough on Wednesday 15 July. The White Rock Theatre is hosting a daytime conference on heritage regeneration projects, including legal issues and funding options. More generally, ways of ensuring a sustainable future for local historic buildings and sites will be discussed.

The workshop has been organised by Brick (Building Resources, Investment and Community Knowledge), a programme of Prince Charles’ Prince’s Regeneration Trust set up in 2014. It seeks to bring together individuals, community groups, professionals, businesses, volunteers and others involved in heritage regeneration projects to equip them with the skills and expertise needed to save their local heritage and build a better future for their communities. Many heritage-regeneration projects struggle because of a lack of support on issues such as governance, legal support, digital knowledge, PR, skills audit and community engagement. The Brick roadshow attempts to help overcome these difficulties.

The question of ‘heritage’ is vexed by the inclination of some to define it as old and somehow virtuous in itself. Possibly this will be aired at the workshop. The Heritage at Risk register maintained by Historic England (formerly English Heritage) is known to be incomplete. For instance, the United Reformed Church in Cambridge Road is there, but not the Chapel of the Holy Child Jesus Convent in Magdalen Road, which was designed either by AWN Pugin himself or by William Wilkinson Wardell, “by far the most eminent architect who has lived in Australia.”

The workshop at White Rock will include a series of presentations by experts, including:

• Simon Opie of the Hastings Pier Charity, who will talk on issues around asset ownership and community shares
• Jess Steele, from Jericho Road Solutions, on dealing with community assets in difficult ownership
• Anne Kazimirski of New Philanthropy Capital, on measuring the impact of regeneration projects
• Toby Bennett from Spacehive, on instances of successful crowdfunding projects in England
• a legal expert from Beswicks Solicitors, on the legal issues affecting community groups.

The day’s programme will run from 9.30am to 4.30pm. The charge is £22 per person, including lunch. Applications can be made to: brickworkshops@princes-regeneration.org.

The opening of the new pier next year will mark a change to the borough’s patterns of visitors, residents and living. Enjoy the Victorian vistas of St Leonards and Hastings while they last, including sightlines to the castle. As for Queen Victoria herself, she loathed that top-heavy arch.

 

Observer building redesign Find out more, and join in the public consultation, here. A ‘public engagement event’ has been arranged  from 6.30-8.30pm on Tuesday 21 July at Holy Trinity Church, Robertson Street, Hastings TN34 1HT at which you will be able to buttonhole council representatives, the architect team and the developer.

 

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