The former King Edward’s school, a grand Georgian building in Bath that Samuel Smith purchased in the 1980s, has experienced a similar fate. Plans to convert it from a school to a licensed premises were submitted and withdrawn twice, before being submitted again and approved in 2009. Despite planning permission, the work has never commenced. The building, which has sat empty for nearly four decades, is on the English Heritage register of significant historic buildings “at risk” of irreversible decay.
It’s a lovely building. Almost, sorta, a Georgian manor right in the heart of town. Sadly, wouldn’t make a grand house – it’s on a steep hill that cars and lorries have to crash through gears to get up. But only a couple of months back I walked past it and thought, hmm, why’s that just empty and rotting then?
(Just for funsies, it’s the building Bill Bailey went to school in. And, for those who like voice actors in games, Toby Longworth).
Not-Sir Humphrey is bonkers, then. Thank God he’s not in the Civil Service or in government.
Because English Heritage are the most obstructive, demanding, expensive and long winded state organisation to deal with. There is stiff competition but they just about take it.
I daresay the owner is waiting for it to fall down, so they can rebuild without EH requirements at 1/10th the cost.
@Swanny…
Too right. I remember seeing one of those “Grand Designs”-type programs where some poor sod had bought a semi-derelict manor house that was under the purview of English Heritage. Talk about “unhelpful”. All that the bloke wanted to do was a sympathetic restoration to make it a nice place to live, but the obstacles put in his way were astonishing. He summed it up as “I get the feeling that English Heritage would rather the place fell down than someone managed to get a bit of pleasure and satisfaction from it!”.
As the old saw has it – “Power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages!”.
On the other hand, considering the incredible eyesores that can be built in place of something that isn’t protected, maybe there’s some sort of protective clench that occurs.
“Like hell you’re going to change anything!”
Architects have a lot to answer for.
@M
As our host points out, incentives matter. Architects don’t want to make something that people can live or work in, they want to make a statement to the world about how cutting edge they are.
So we end up with crap buildings.
Baron Jackfield. It will be worse than that. English Heritage will be insisting on preservation of the most knackered parts, creating huge expense. At the same time, local building control will be insisting that utterly unsuitable modern materials (that will destroy the building by trapping moisture) are used. Usually EH and the LA refuse to talk to each other, and neither will stand down, so you end up having to somehow do two impossible and totally incompatible things. Until you run out of money and the building falls down.
Joe Smith,
“As our host points out, incentives matter. Architects don’t want to make something that people can live or work in, they want to make a statement to the world about how cutting edge they are.
So we end up with crap buildings.”
Nearly all architecture of the Gehry/Liebeskind/Hadid overpriced architecture wank is government buildings. Art museums, libraries, government housing, Olympic stadiums. Because politicians don’t have to care about the maintenance costs, or whether it works.
And they of course can just override English Heritage.
The private sector is far more about practical, conservative buildings. I know the bloke who tried to bring the old Corn Exchange in Swindon back into use. Broadly speaking, he wanted to retain as much as it as possible. That sort of building, people like for shopping or going to a cafe. But he wanted some changes. Sensible things that you need if you’re going to shift from it being a bingo hall in the 1980s to somewhere with a kitchen in 2024. Like various kitchen stuff, safety stuff, some disabled access. EH told him he’d have to do it a certain way, which means it wasn’t viable, so now it rots.
They are like mad puritans at EH. They don’t think about what is the best outcome, balancing heritage and commercial need. They just want it done their way.
What we should have with heritage is firstly that it is decided at a local level, and secondly, that the local town pays a preservation fee to the owner. If a town gets some pleasure from the external beauty of a building, the town can offer the owner money to preserve it how they would like it to be. And the owner can decide to keep it preserved and have some local money or to knock it down.
Even worse, if you own a listed building and work has been done on it by a previous owner without EH approval, they can require you to restore it at your own expense. Never buy a listed building.
You could always do what Bradford Clowncil did with the New Victoria/Gaumont/Odeon did…give it to a sock puppet NGO called Yorkshire First who let it go rack and ruin. Buy it back for a quid and then spend £50m of CT money restoring it.
Looks absolutely amazing. Only one problem, Bradford becomes the UK Capital of Culture (yes, no laughing at the back, I’ve told the same jokes myself) in 11 days and their is no operator, no staff hired or bands booked…
Will soon be the biggest Asian wedding venue in Europe