There is nothing more central to our heritage than the Royal Pavilion Estate. In the early years of our existence, the Regency Society fought hard and successfully for the then badly delapidated Royal Pavilion.

Too often we write with disappointment about new projects where quality architects have been replaced by cheaper alternatives once permission has been obtained, or of contractors who do not appreciate the care required when working with historic sites. It is, therefore, particularly heartening to report on a project supervised throughout by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and realised by R. Durtnell and Sons, a family business established since 1591 with a track record of delivering high profile heritage restoration projects.

This project is now at an advanced stage. Much twentieth century addition has  been stripped away and the original, simple magnificence of the widest span timber frame building in Britain, the Prince Regent's Riding School, is beginning to re-emerge. Gone and unmourned are the mirroring on the windows, the incongruous 'wagon wheel' hanging light, the painted roof, and much else. We have heritage to be proud of and it is good to see it cared for and made fit for purpose as a state of the art twenty-first century performance venue.

Much of the funding is already in place for this project but members are encouraged to consider making a contribution to help raise the final 10%. (see below).

Corn Exchange cross section (West)

The emerging Corn Exchange from the new balcony

The Brighton Dome and Festival team write:

'Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival’s transformational £21.2 million project to redevelop the Grade I Corn Exchange and Grade II listed Studio Theatre is well underway. These extraordinary venues were in urgent need of repair and renovation to continue welcoming artists and audiences. As well as preserving the unique heritage, visitors will enjoy more comfortable, accessible spaces with improved acoustics, lighting and seating. The wider project includes a new viewing gallery for visitors to observe creativity at work in the Corn Exchange, new bars, a café opening up onto New Road and a new creative space for artists and community groups.

After eighteen months on site and generous public and private support, over 90% of funding is in place towards the total project costs. Brighton Dome is now seeking support from audiences for their community campaign ‘Build Brighton Dome’, inviting individuals to make a donation or even Name a Seat in the redeveloped Corn Exchange. Build Brighton Dome has so far raised over £55,000 towards the total £250,000 needed. Thanks to The Roddick Foundation all donations, including seat donations, will be doubled so whatever people choose to give at this crucial time will mean even more.

Name a Seat

Honour the memory of someone special, share your love of music or surprise a loved one with a unique gift. In appreciation, your name - or a nominated name - will be inscribed on a seat plaque in the refurbished Corn Exchange for a minimum of twenty years. Seat donations start from £25 a month over 12 months. For more information please call 01273 260818 or email development@brightondome.org to request a form in the post.

Make a donation

All donations will make a difference. To donate online, please visit: build.brightondome.org or you can donate via text: Text BDFL18 £3 to 70070 (you can change the donation amount for anything up to £10).'

Images: Top: Detail of Corn Exchange window (looking down into the public Hall). Image by Carlotta Luke. Centre: Visualisation of the Corn Exchange cross section. Image by FCBS architects  Corn Exchange works in progress (view from the new balcony). Image by Carlotta Luke

The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society committees, meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant.

Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.

The Planning Forum looked at two significant applications in September, both just north of North Laine conservation area and each with a potentially dramatic impact on the physical environment of the area. The Regency Society is generally supportive of both albeit with comments on improving some details of each.

We looked at 2 schemes for student housing this month.

Melbourne Street: Too big

The first is a very large development proposed for Melbourne Street, just off the Lewes Road near the gyratory.

The application is being made by Vita Brighton 1 Ltd which is part of a group which develops and operates student accommodation.

It will involve demolition of an existing office building and a workshop.  The new building will provide 350 student rooms, plus communal facilities. It will also include 20 affordable homes and over 1,000 square metres of employment space.

The society has no objection to a development of this kind in this location.  However, we are objecting to the massing of the proposed building which we think will have an adverse impact on neighbouring properties.

Melbourne Street

Falmer

Falmer: Too ugly

The second student housing scheme is for a site in Falmer near the station.  It is currently occupied by two rather dilapidated cottages of no particular heritage value, which will be demolished.

The proposed replacement is a four-storey building which would provide accommodation for 71 students with associated cycle and car parking and some landscaping.

So far so good, but look at the design! One member described it politely as “too urban” for the location. Another was more blunt, describing it as looking like a prison.

So, as with the previous scheme, we’re saying yes to the proposed demolition and use for student housing, but no to the proposed building, this time on the grounds of a design which is unsympathetic to its neighbours and its location.

Modern design in Brunswick Town

Brunswick Street West is located behind the large houses on the east side of Lansdowne Place.  It was probably a mews and like many similar streets in the area it has been re-developed in a variety of ways over the years.

This scheme relates to a site on the east side, about one third of the way down from Western Road.  It has been used recently by a car sales business.

The proposal is to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with five, three-storey, three-bedroom dwellings.  The design is modern but not particularly exciting.

However, it will provide five small homes in a “desirable” location and will probably look a lot better than what is there now.  So, the society is not making any comment.

Proposed street scene

Street view

Clermont Terrace: but what will it look like?

Clermont Church is in Clermont Terrace just south of Preston Park Station.  It was built in 1877-8 to a design by local architect, J G Gibbins. It is an attractive building with an impressive, high-pitched roof.

It is located in the Preston Park conservation area and is locally listed  It is no longer in use as a church. Behind the church there is a more recent, two storey extension which is currently used by the Brighton Academy of Performing Arts.

The Academy wants to expand its space by adding a further storey.  Our image shows the current view from the south west approach to the site.  This suggests that a third storey could have an adverse effect on the appearance of the fine pitched roof.

The problem is we don’t really know, because the applicant has not included a drawing or “artist’s impression” to show what the new view would be from the street. Nor does the application include a heritage statement to explain the significance of the existing building.  So, we are objecting on the grounds of inadequate information.

The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society committees, meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant.

Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.

The Planning Forum looked at two significant applications in September, both just north of North Laine conservation area and each with a potentially dramatic impact on the physical environment of the area. The Regency Society is generally supportive of both albeit with comments on improving some details of each.

And, as the last entry you will see the society's submitted objection to Sea Lanes, the scheme presented in the August Planning Forum page.

Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, Pelham Street, Brighton

This is a hybrid planning application seeking full planning permission for redevelopment of the existing college site (Site A, west side of Pelham Street) and outline permission for demolition of college-owned buildings on the east side of Pelham Street (site B, former York Place elementary schools) for housing.  Site B borders Valley Gardens conservation area to the west and North Laine conservation area to the south.

Site A - the existing Pelham Tower and college car park

The College seeks to enhance the interior of the existing 11 storey Pelham Tower and increase teaching space by building two three storey extensions adjoining the tower and into the existing car park.  A large portion of the car park will given over to landscaped open space, with cycle and some disabled parking.  Vehicular access will change. Present car park users will have to find alternate parking. The Regency Society had no major objections to this part of the application but suggested that greater attention be given to maximise improvement of the public realm.

Proposed entrance from south, Pelham Tower in background

Proposed view from Pelham Street

Outline suggestion only of residential units, east side Pelham Street

Site B - east side of Pelham Street

Outline planning permission is sought to demolish the existing buildings to create up to 35 residential units in blocks, some of which may be up to 6 storeys.

The Regency Society noted  that this scheme offers no affordable housing on the grounds that all of the surplus generated by the housing element was needed to finance the re-furbishment of the tower and the new courtyard development on the car-park. Although this is disappointing it was recognised that, unlike most housing schemes, this one is designed specifically to enable improvements to the educational facilities provided by a public sector college and so the 0% affordable housing was, arguably, justifiable.

The society proposed that the college should be asked to look again at the viability of providing at least some affordable housing, taking into account not only the sites under consideration but also all of the college’s other properties elsewhere. 
Alternatively, or additionally, consideration could be given to allowing taller residential development on the east side of Pelham Street.

Longley Industrial Estate, New England Street & Elder Place, Brighton

This application forms a part of a larger masterplan for the whole of the area north from and including New England House to New England Road with east and west boundaries at Elder Street and New England Street.

The application site is presently a two storey block that would be demolished for a dense mixed use development for offices (3,333sqm), retail (308sqm), 208 residential units in blocks ranging from 3 to 18 storeys and landscaped open space that is intended to create pedestrian crossways to connect the surrounding areas to one another and to London Road.  Elder Place will be widened and landscaped for both car and pedestrian use. Although there is some underground car parking it is likely that the residential units will not have parking, in line with other developments in the New England Quarter. We understand that delivery bays and drop-off points will be provided so that additional traffic congestion will be minimal.

It was agreed that the building was appropriate for a brownfield site close to the main transport hub and the New England Quarter development.  There was no objection to the configuration or massing of the building though the height of the tallest block was noted as a possible concern.

Proposal viewed from high on Elder Street to southwest

Proposal from Grade II listed Duke of York with locally listed The Joker pub in centre foreground

Regency Society suggested example of good articulation of blocks from application for Hove Gardens presently subject of an appeal

Regency Society suggested example of good articulation of blocks from application for residential dwellings on Preston Barracks site

However, it was agreed that the design was disappointing. Comparison was made with the Hove's Ellen Street scheme (currently subject of an appeal) which, like this proposal involves a series of  blocks of differing height and design, but with greater distinction between them that has the effect of softening the impact of the mass. Similarly, the residential elements of the Preston barracks site development were offered for comparison. (Both of these examples can be seen in the photos above.) It was agreed therefore that the proposed Longley site building, as currently designed, would represent a missed opportunity to create an architecturally beneficial addition to the area in need of significant upgrade and identity and should therefore be subject to a design review.

It was also agreed that the possible uses of the s.106 contributions which would result should be allocated after a meaningful consultation with the local community.

The masterplan, which does not form part of the application, suggests over-development of the area. Consultation is presently taking place on plans for Vantage Point with an application likely to be submitted late in this year or so. The Regency Society will continue to review the applications and record comments on this Planning Forum page of the website.

Sea Lanes (former Peter Pan playground site), Madeira Drive, Brighton: RS submission to the council

The Regency Society objects most strongly to granting this application, even temporarily.

Removing the dereliction of the former Peter Pan Playground site and providing the proposed pool are both worthwhile objectives. However, it seems implausible that development on the proposed scale could produce a return on investment within five years and cover the operating deficit of the pool and still be able to pay for reinstatement at the end of the term. If the company goes into liquidation, the Council would be landed with the cost of reinstatement.

The proposals are a gross overdevelopment of the site; the actual pool and its associated facilities could easily fit between Madeira Drive and the Volks Railway. A significant part of Madeira Drive would lose its seaward visibility; the few lines of vision through the serried ranks of the hutted encampment are at 45 degrees to the line of Madeira Drive and are no more than the minimum needed for circulation within it. They would become wind funnels in high winds.

The proposals would generate significant extra vehicular traffic and demand for parking on Madeira Drive, when the objective should be to reduce them both.

There is no recognition that Madeira Terrace is a Grade II listed building, so there is no assessment of its significance and of the adverse effect the proposals would have on its setting. There is therefore no way of assessing the supposed public benefits of the proposals against the undoubted harm which would be done to the significance of the listed building. The proposed development would be a completely incongruous neighbour to Madeira Terrace and would cut a substantial length of it off from its key relationship to the sea.

The proposals would have an adverse effect on the setting of all the other listed buildings on Madeira Drive, from the Palace Pier to the west, the only Grade II* seaside pier, to the Banjo Groin to the east. The proposals would also have an adverse effect on the unlisted heritage asset of the Volks Railway and be extremely detrimental to the character of the East Cliff Conservation Area.

The adverse impact on Madeira Terrace would not just be on its significance but upon its future viability. Apart from the competition from the proposal site, nobody will want to sit in a bar or café under the terrace when their view of the sea is blocked by an eyesore. The commercial elements required as enabling development to subsidise the swimming pool would be better placed within Madeira Terrace to fund its repair and future maintenance.

Permitting this egregious proposal could be fatal to hopes of saving Madeira Terrace. Contributors to the crowd-funding campaign would have every reason to feel betrayed, and any future fund-raising campaign would be starting off on the wrong foot. The Heritage Lottery Fund would be given good grounds for declining to support the rescue of Madeira Terrace.

The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society committees, meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant.

Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.

In our latest meeting we considered the following issues:

Can you help us form a view on the Sea Lanes planning application?

site of Sea Lanes

artist's image of proposed scheme

The Regency Society has not yet decided its view on this scheme on the former Peter Pan Playground site. The idea of a heated outdoor swimming pool for free-style swimming and to encourage safe and confident sea swimming was suggested a few years ago. At that time it was for a permanent Olympic size pool and associated enabling buildings. The council agreed a 150-year lease with Sea Lanes developers.

However this application is somewhat watered down to a temporary 25m x 12.5m pool for a five year trial period along with enabling buildings: changing and plant rooms, events space, lifeguard station, cycle parking, retractable beach mat and mixed leisure including retail, food, drink and offices. The lease is now for five years. The pool will be open to all and offer good provision for disabled swimmers.

Temporary relocatable modular buildings of 1-3 storeys will be installed with a first floor deck for the leisure aspects of the scheme.  If the idea proves to be successful an application for an olympic size pool and permanent buildings will be submitted in three years.

We would really like your views on this application. Please use the comment facility at the end of this article and help us form a view.  You can see the full application here

Plans for the existing synagogue site on New Church Road

proposed site plan

Church Street elevation

This is a controversial scheme. The Regency Society has objected on grounds of overdevelopment. The site is the existing synagogue and associated building at 29-31 New Church Road, Hove, that will be demolished.

The plan is for mixed-use residential and community in blocks of 4, 5 and 6 storeys to provide replacement children’s nursery, 2 classrooms for shared use by St Christopher’s school, offices, meeting rooms and cafe, underground car park and 35 flats. Between and connecting these blocks will be a new single storey synagogue.

Additionally, and of concern to the Regency Society, is the plan to build 10 town houses at the rear of the site. This intention, alongside the building mass across the site as described above, leaves very little open space.

The society has no objection to the amended heights of the blocks and welcomes retaining most of the mature trees at the front, but is unable to support a design that should not set a precedent for future developments.

See the full application here

Housing scheme for Hove—a model of good planning

Site plan

Artist's impression

The Regency Society supports this mixed-use scheme for 163 dwellings that exceed national space standards, 938 sqm of office accommodation and parking.

Four irregularly shaped buildings from five to ten storeys will connect via a podium that allows for parking underneath and shared gardens for residents above. Landscaping intentions are extensive including trees enabled by raised mounds on the podium that suggest an undulating green space of paths and gardens. The existing line of mature trees will be retained and define the vehicle entrance to the site.

The scheme abuts the railway line and replaces small industrial buildings. Peacock Industrial site to the west will remain. The built up area immediately to the south is on Davigdor Road identifiable by the new Artisan housing block, extensive offices and Montefiore Hospital.

This new scheme is generally welcomed, representing good use of a brownfield site and model for future developments. It is hoped that the planned 40% affordable element will not be diluted as the development progresses. The society has some concerns about the impact on local facilities, such as surgeries and schools.

See the full application here

Lyn Turpin reflects on a lovely afternoon in the Secret Garden at the Regency Society annual Garden Party

Despite concern that ticket sales were down and that maybe the garden party has had its day as a summer event, the annual Regency Society garden party on 23 June was once again a great success. It was helped, no doubt, by the sunshine, the wine and the delicious canapés. And, of course, the delightful setting of Kemptown’s Secret Garden, now owned and maintained by the Antony Dale Trust.

Worries about ticket sales were unfounded as numbers were virtually the same as last year, with almost a third paying at the door, maybe encouraged by the good weather.

Music played in the background as people nibbled, drank and chatted with old friends and new faces. Had I known I was going to be writing this, I might have listened more carefully to the music playing but possibly there was some Glenn Miller and definitely a little Ink Spots! So nothing too loud or aggressive or likely to upset the neighbours.

We were joined by some special visitors, including Councillor Dee Simson, Brighton & Hove’s new mayor; Sir Simon Jenkins, President of the Regency Society, and Professor Gavin Henderson CBE, Vice President of the Society and Chair of the Antony Dale Trust. The mayor said a few words, congratulating the Society on its work encouraging concern for our city’s built environment, and drew the first ticket (and several more) of the afternoon’s raffle (prizes predominantly books and booze). Gavin Henderson also spoke, giving us a potted history of the Secret Garden and the Antony Dale Trust’s plans for future development and uses of the garden. These include an exhibition in next year’s Brighton Festival of the work of sculptor, William Pye, probably best known in the south-east for his water sculpture at Gatwick Airport.

Click on an image to enlarge

Special thanks must go to Martin Auton-Lloyd for the catering; Delia Forester, Helen Walker, Rupert Radcliffe-Genge and Richard Robinson for their sterling work on the bar and raffle; Suzanne Hinton and Kate Ormond at the door; David Robson for photography and ferrying tables back and forth, and Roger Hinton, Chair of the Society and provider of the music from his extensive collection of 78s. And to all the people who attended – perhaps the garden party hasn’t had its day after all!

Images of the party by David Robson

Images of the garden by Nick Dwyer

The Regency Society has pledged £7k to the Saltdean Lido crowd-funding appeal to help the Community Interest Company (CIC) achieve its goal of £101.997. This will help unlock an additional grant of £4.19m from the Heritage Lottery Fund for preserving the rest of the building. The Society agreed to make a pledge, acknowledging the significance of the Lido as one of the finest remaining examples of modernist lidos in the UK. The appeal closes on 16 June. Prior to the RS pledge,  over 90% of the total had been donated. Regency Society Chair Roger Hinton comments:

"Restoration of the Saltdean Lido site is one of Brighton and Hove's most important heritage projects. The Saltdean Lido Trust has already brought the pool back into use and is now turning its attention to the main building which is in urgent need of restoration. The Regency Society is pleased to be able to support the project. We believe that it will not only save a fine building but also create an important
asset for the local community." ...continue reading "Regency Society supports Saltdean Lido"