Love Clapham website is the local guide for residents and visitors of the Clapham area, London. This includes Clapham Common, Clapham North, Clapham South, Clapham Old Town, Clapham Junction and the surrounding areas of Battersea, Balham, Stockwell, Vauxhall and more.
Clapham One development is go!
The future face of the Clapham High Street area, named Clapham One, is finally taking shape after a long delay caused by funding problems during the recession. But, it’s a new year and Lambeth Council has now secured the construction of a new library, mini shopping centre and housing unit on the High Street and an entirely new, renovated leisure centre to replace the (now closed) existing one. The scheme is exciting, but has been met with some criticism. We asked our Clapper followers on Twitter what they thought.
Delays to the project, while understandable given the economic downturn, have caused concern among local Clappers with @Jason_Cobb saying “My concerns are that Future Clap’ham will continue to run behind schedule. Already 2 years late.” Indeed, with no leisure centre in the heart of Clapham until the new building is complete in 18 months or so, Clappers are being advised to hop on a bus to nearby Brixton for their fitness needs.
Us Clappers certainly know a thing or two about aesthetics and the importance of making a good visual impression, so it’s unsurprising that the most controversial topic is the look of the two buildings. About the main tower block building @edwardclarke says “I like the design! Big improvement on the very dull building that’s there now,” while @alliekeith says “I don’t like the suggested apartments on the high st – looks like a cartoon.” The fact that the designs are just diagrams at the moment probably doesn’t help, but Love Clapham can see her point; it does have a touch of the Flint Stones about it. Nevertheless, Love Clapham loves the main High Street block and it will certainly add to the unusual character of the street started by our spaceship styled Sainsburys!
The new Leisure Centre however is the biggest sore spot for most Clappers. Last April we reported a drive by residents in the area to object against the plans for more social housing on the site with only a few car parking spaces to cope. Also, Clappers weren’t particularly happy about the proposed ‘modern’ look of the building described then on a leaflet as “a big white monstrosity.”
Indeed, opinion doesn’t seem to have changed on this one, “new Clapham Leisure Centre looks like a multistorey car park mated with a supermarket. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts,” says @filmish. It doesn’t stop there with @bigsquiddiving likening it to “a storage unit rather than a leisure centre!” and @edwardclarke asking “Maybe should have preserved Victorian facade on modern rebuild?”
Here at Love Clapham HQ, we have to agree that we’d have preferred the leisure centre to have remained in keeping, at least on the outside, with the residential street it sits on. Having said that, with all progress comes change and there’s no denying that this huge investment in Clapham is nothing but a good thing. The Leisure Centre may look like a big greenhouse, but the facilities are going to be state-of-the-art and useful, while the High Street development is something everyone in Clapham should be proud of. Clapham High Street is desperately in need of investment and something to really put it on the map, this building will undoubtedly do that.
So, thanks to everyone involved for getting this huge project off the ground at last and here’s to hoping more delays don’t happen. To find out more Love Clapham will be interviewing people at the helm of the project soon – stay tuned!
What do you think of Clapham One? Tell us below and visit the Clapham One website for pictures and more information.
3 Responses to Clapham One development is go!
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| 1. | Le Petit Boulangerie, Abbeville Road | 1. | Lack of waffles on sale in cafes |
| 2. | Gastro, Venn Street | 2. | Too many Sainsbury's |
| 3. | Clapham's new Leisure Centre | 3. | Rainy weekends :o( |
| 4. | Venn Street Sat market | 4. | Rubbish shops on the High Street |
| 5. | Costa in Clapham Junction station | 5. |
Regarding the new towers, I appreciate that the proportion seems the same as the one they replace (however you should publish a picture showing that). The reference to carton is unfortunately appropriate… think about what those building will look like in 20 years?
I completely disagree with the statement from @filmish: “new Clapham Leisure Centre looks like a multistorey car park mated with a supermarket. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts,”
Does it mean that you can build the most horrible, out of place, out of proportion building, as long as you provide newest and more convenient facilities inside? I am afraid I strongly disagree and considering the level of objections in Clapham Junction last year, a lot of people think the same.
Honestly I don’t understand why the façade of the leisure centre is not kept, which is a nice building with a little history and character, which is what the proposal lacks completely.
I’ve read on the Clapham One site that there will be changes to the external facade of the leisure cntre building due to objections raised during planning consultation but that the inside of the building and its facilities will remain the same. It looks likethey might re-model the design based on people’s objections. Nevertheless i think both projects are an excellent development for the high street. Any non-historic building will most likely become outdated in a matter of time anyway. There are a couple of ugly council blocks already on Clapham Manor road which is in keeping with london’s tendency to mix the ugly with the beautiful and bizarre. Clapham High Street has been allowed to evolve at its own pace and its own unique way without any fussy planning from gentrifiers, I think that is a good thing, even if we still have a sizeable number of shops selling plastics and corner shops, at least it hasn’t got the unappealing exclusivity of Abbeville Road – Clapham’s other key High Street or the anodyne appeal of Lavendar road which is now crowded with occasionally-used restaurants and useless twee-looking shops selling sleek tat.
The design vision is actually very good. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it were a Vlado Milunic / Frank Gehry creation – the folks that designed Dancing House in Prague (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_House) a world famous and renowned building. Britain is blighted with bland, pastiche architecture. It’s 2010. We have many gorgeous original buildings that remind us of years gone by in London. It’s impossible to successfully recreate those designs with today’s planning limitations. So let’s create buildings appropriate to our time. That work with today’s materials, laws and life to create something awe inspiring – even on a south London suburban high street (which, quite frankly could do with an injection of “interesting”). I just hope the designers and planners aren’t bullied into watering down the design and creating a congenial design when what is proposed is challenging and exciting.