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'Prison-like' student housing wins Carbuncle Cup for worst building 'Prison-like' student housing wins Carbuncle Cup for worst building
(21 days later)
Cramped rooms with low ceilings and one small window facing directly on to a brick wall. If you crane your neck, you can just about see the outside world. It could be a description of the cells in Pentonville Prison, but these are the conditions enjoyed just down the road from the Victorian jail in a new student accommodation block for University College London – today announced as winner of the Carbuncle Cup by Building Design magazine, for the worst building of the year.Cramped rooms with low ceilings and one small window facing directly on to a brick wall. If you crane your neck, you can just about see the outside world. It could be a description of the cells in Pentonville Prison, but these are the conditions enjoyed just down the road from the Victorian jail in a new student accommodation block for University College London – today announced as winner of the Carbuncle Cup by Building Design magazine, for the worst building of the year.
Looming behind the retained brick facade of a nineteenth-century warehouse, the 350-bedroom hulk squats on north London's Caledonian Road like a beached whale, trying to hide its copious grey flanks behind the dainty Victorian mask. Spilling out on either side, and climbing up to 11 storeys, it is a bizarre Frankenstein concoction: its floors rise out of step with the existing facade, meaning more than half of the street-facing bedrooms look straight on to the brick wall, only one metre away.Looming behind the retained brick facade of a nineteenth-century warehouse, the 350-bedroom hulk squats on north London's Caledonian Road like a beached whale, trying to hide its copious grey flanks behind the dainty Victorian mask. Spilling out on either side, and climbing up to 11 storeys, it is a bizarre Frankenstein concoction: its floors rise out of step with the existing facade, meaning more than half of the street-facing bedrooms look straight on to the brick wall, only one metre away.
"It utterly defies belief," says Islington councillor Paul Convery, who chaired the planning committee that refused Mortar Developments permission for the building in April 2010 – a decision that was overturned on appeal six months later. "Now that it's been erected, it slaps you in the face how totally wrong the building is.""It utterly defies belief," says Islington councillor Paul Convery, who chaired the planning committee that refused Mortar Developments permission for the building in April 2010 – a decision that was overturned on appeal six months later. "Now that it's been erected, it slaps you in the face how totally wrong the building is."
The catalogue of calamities continues well beyond the facade of the £18m colossus. Islington refused permission not only on grounds of excessive scale, massing, bulk and "incoherent elevation treatment", but on the fact that the rooms suffered from inadequate daylight, poor outlook and lack of privacy. Around the back, where the building greets the adjacent train line with a blunt grey cliff, bedrooms face their neighbours' windows as close as five metres away – in a borough where the minimal residential overlooking distance is 18 metres.The catalogue of calamities continues well beyond the facade of the £18m colossus. Islington refused permission not only on grounds of excessive scale, massing, bulk and "incoherent elevation treatment", but on the fact that the rooms suffered from inadequate daylight, poor outlook and lack of privacy. Around the back, where the building greets the adjacent train line with a blunt grey cliff, bedrooms face their neighbours' windows as close as five metres away – in a borough where the minimal residential overlooking distance is 18 metres.
But this list of ills was batted aside by the planning inspector, on the grounds that the rooms' main function would be for sleeping, "due to intensive daytime activities taking place at the university campus". The lack of privacy, daylight and standard residential amenity, he therefore concluded, was "unlikely to be perceived as overly oppressive by the occupiers". Paying up to £730 per month for the privilege, students might feel differently when they move in later this year.But this list of ills was batted aside by the planning inspector, on the grounds that the rooms' main function would be for sleeping, "due to intensive daytime activities taking place at the university campus". The lack of privacy, daylight and standard residential amenity, he therefore concluded, was "unlikely to be perceived as overly oppressive by the occupiers". Paying up to £730 per month for the privilege, students might feel differently when they move in later this year.
"It's absolutely atrocious," says Hannah Webb of the UCL Students' Union. "Everyone deserves natural light, and students often use their rooms during the day for studying. It's just another disgraceful example of UCL trying to profit from its students, with no thought for their welfare.""It's absolutely atrocious," says Hannah Webb of the UCL Students' Union. "Everyone deserves natural light, and students often use their rooms during the day for studying. It's just another disgraceful example of UCL trying to profit from its students, with no thought for their welfare."
"Daylight is not a luxury, it's a necessity," agrees Colum McGuire, vice president of the National Union of Students. "We wouldn't expect or accept windowless rooms for any other sector of society, and so there is absolutely no reason to think such provision is acceptable to students.""Daylight is not a luxury, it's a necessity," agrees Colum McGuire, vice president of the National Union of Students. "We wouldn't expect or accept windowless rooms for any other sector of society, and so there is absolutely no reason to think such provision is acceptable to students."
But planning regulations suggest otherwise. The UCL scheme, designed by Stephen George and Partners – which won the Carbuncle Cup in 2007 for its grim Opal Court housing development in Leicester – is a hall of residence, which falls into the same use class (C1) as hotels and guest houses. Due to their limited occupation, these building types are exempt from many of the codes and standards that govern residential dwellings (C3) – from daylight to acoustics – while the developer is often excused from the usual obligation of providing an affordable housing contribution.But planning regulations suggest otherwise. The UCL scheme, designed by Stephen George and Partners – which won the Carbuncle Cup in 2007 for its grim Opal Court housing development in Leicester – is a hall of residence, which falls into the same use class (C1) as hotels and guest houses. Due to their limited occupation, these building types are exempt from many of the codes and standards that govern residential dwellings (C3) – from daylight to acoustics – while the developer is often excused from the usual obligation of providing an affordable housing contribution.
All this makes student housing an attractive proposition for investors, with short-term lettings providing regular opportunities to hike price levels and adjust lease terms. Piled high and sold not-so-cheap, building student silos can be a lucrative business: Knight Frank reports that it currently outperforms every other commercial property class, with rental income across the whole sector worth around £4bn per year.All this makes student housing an attractive proposition for investors, with short-term lettings providing regular opportunities to hike price levels and adjust lease terms. Piled high and sold not-so-cheap, building student silos can be a lucrative business: Knight Frank reports that it currently outperforms every other commercial property class, with rental income across the whole sector worth around £4bn per year.
"We're noting very intense hotspots for student housing in Islington," says Convery, pointing out there are now 1,000 student bedrooms on this corner of Caledonian Road alone. The borough has the highest number of privately operated halls of residence in London, holding over 6,000 bed spaces, with an extra 3,000 in the pipeline. "There are increasing clusters around tube stations along the Piccadilly line, which developers see as a student conduit, connecting the university centres of Bloomsbury and South Kensington.""We're noting very intense hotspots for student housing in Islington," says Convery, pointing out there are now 1,000 student bedrooms on this corner of Caledonian Road alone. The borough has the highest number of privately operated halls of residence in London, holding over 6,000 bed spaces, with an extra 3,000 in the pipeline. "There are increasing clusters around tube stations along the Piccadilly line, which developers see as a student conduit, connecting the university centres of Bloomsbury and South Kensington."
Further north, at Arsenal station, the council has recently overturned an inspector's decision in the high court, blocking plans for a rippling 25-storey student tower by CZWG architects, which was to be clad in the football team's red and white colours. The same architects graced the Carbuncle Cup shortlist last year for a student housing tower in Wembley shaped like a spiralling silver helter-skelter.Further north, at Arsenal station, the council has recently overturned an inspector's decision in the high court, blocking plans for a rippling 25-storey student tower by CZWG architects, which was to be clad in the football team's red and white colours. The same architects graced the Carbuncle Cup shortlist last year for a student housing tower in Wembley shaped like a spiralling silver helter-skelter.
With constant pressure to provide rooms for burgeoning numbers of students, such schemes are increasingly waved through planning, ducking under the usual rules. In close running for the Carbuncle prize this year was Castle Mill student housing, a series of bulky blocks that now march along the edge of Oxford's ancient Port Meadow landscape. The development has been likened to "building a skyscraper next to Stonehenge" and is currently facing judicial review, with an independent inquiry launched to determine the legality of the planning process.With constant pressure to provide rooms for burgeoning numbers of students, such schemes are increasingly waved through planning, ducking under the usual rules. In close running for the Carbuncle prize this year was Castle Mill student housing, a series of bulky blocks that now march along the edge of Oxford's ancient Port Meadow landscape. The development has been likened to "building a skyscraper next to Stonehenge" and is currently facing judicial review, with an independent inquiry launched to determine the legality of the planning process.
"For an institution steeped in culture, heritage and learning," wrote one enraged reader about Oxford University, "they've proved themselves to be a bunch of crass money-grubbing philistines. With tin ears to the howls of public outrage.""For an institution steeped in culture, heritage and learning," wrote one enraged reader about Oxford University, "they've proved themselves to be a bunch of crass money-grubbing philistines. With tin ears to the howls of public outrage."
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