The Spectator

[Craig]

For those of you who are intersted in such things - photos of the interior of the Spectator's old offices

http://planningonline.camden.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do;jsessionid=C815239CD4DDA767C4E2CB1BF1C6C990?action=show&appType=Planning&appNumber=2007/6352/P

 

[Ian Bond]

Trying to work out what this is about...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200703/ai_n18705910

Husband and wife artists Gary Hume and Georgia Hopton have bought the Spectator's old offices and are converting it back to residential use?

Nice place!

 

[Ian Bond]

Noticed this in Simon Courtauld's Spectator article:

When Laurence Turner, sculptor and carver, lived here in the first part of the 20th century, he modelled the decorative plaster ceilings and cornices on the ground and first floors.

But Page 6 of the Conservation Design Statements says:

2.8 Many undesirable and poor alterations were carried out c.1970 when the house was in office use.
Office use necessitated more toilets and also resulted in blocked doorways and "upgrading" doors etc
for fire resistance.

Inappropriate heavy cornicing was introduced to the ground floor and first floor rooms, overwhelming the
lightness and delicacy of the Regency Design.

I wonder if the plasterwork they're talking about Laurence Turner's DIY from several decades earlier? No doubt the Spectator are responsible for much of the other abberations, as can be seen from those pictures.

Looks like they're doing a thorough job at removing the dross and putting the house to rights.

(Now I've read it all through, it certainly is a thorough job - very well specified indeed. The architects' work puts my amateurishly scribbled plans to shame!)

 

[Craig]

Yes, I noticed that about the plasterwork. Its noticeable that the Spectator buiding has been "old-ified" at some point to look like an earlier building than it is - more Queen Anne than William IV maybe? Much thicker glazing bars etc.

Much of the street is now converted back to single houses - 150 years after the location fell out of fashion as a place to live, it seems.

 

[Ian Bond]

Plus re-used sashes from elsewhere put in place of a door.

It goes to show the havoc that can be wrought by a change of use, with all of the requirements to comply with fire regs and so on, along with all the re-partitioning for office space.

They've gone to a great deal of trouble to unpick it all, and find out what's happened to the building over the years.

Looks like fortune smiles on the building again - and it's going to need a fortune spent on it. Good luck to them.