Old Magistrates Court

Old Magistrates Court - Quora Developments Flat Roof Box Design 

We understand that the SDNPA will meet on the 12th December 2013 to decide on future of this site. 

It may still be possible to submit your comments in these closing stages. Have a go! For the sake of our town!  

See below for recommended wording of objection letter

The historic town of Lewes deserves better than this!

The SDNPA are scheduled to meet on the 14^th November to decide on this application to (a) demolish the existing building & (b) erect a new building in its place. Please would you let the SDNPA know of your objections? We all hope that the authority will reject this inappropriate flat roof design right in middle of the conservation area in the heart of historic Lewes. 

To comment go to:
http://planningpublicaccess.southdowns.gov.uk/online-applications/ Enter the application number (SDNP/13/02497/FUL) and click the ‘comments’ tab. You will then be able to send your comments on line. You can also object to the application to demolish the courthouse by entering that application number: SDNP/13/02499/CON. 

If built this building were constructed it be bang next door to the Grade II Listed Fitzroy Memorial Library. In fact the architects carefully avoided any including of nearby building as you can see from the design sketch above! 

About the architects & the developer:

As indicated by their web site Juice architects are used to designing buildings more suitable for an out-of-town shopping centre or a new town. There is no indication that they have any skill in designing buildings suitable for an historic town. see their website: http://www.juicearchitects.com/4A_01_Sustainability.htm   

As for Quora,  their developments are along same lines of bland that 60s and 70s architecture, much of which is deplored today. Here is an example: http://www.quoradevelopments.com/projects-killamarsh.html. 

And Premier Inn (part of Whitbread plc) who are due to run the hotel aren’t much better:

Here is an example of Premier Inn and the county council riding roughshod over the local opinion despite the submission of a 12,000 signature petition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-22871341. Premier Inn doesn’t have a good track record in terms of architecture or enhancing the character, fabric and community in towns and cities.  

The existing building





                   Ariel View 

Lewes Town 

Recommended wording of objection e-mail: 

I strongly object to this development and request Refusal of this application because of the scale and design of development and its lack of respect for the traditional materials, scale and appearance of the historic core of Lewes, which will cause harm to the traditional appearance of the national park in this location.

The traditional character of Lewes is set out in the conservation area appraisal (published in 2007 by the LDC & revised by the SDNPA in July 2012, draft) for this historic core of the town where is says that ‘fundamental principles’ must be adhered to for example it says “Any intervention should echo and reinforce those characteristics of the buildings, townscape and public realm of Lewes which make a positive contribution to the town and its local distinctiveness”.

Traditional materials are durable - local brick and tiles or traditional stucco. Roofs are traditionally pitched and tiled, or in Victorian times slate was used. The bulk of older buildings along the High Street were tiled with pitched roofs of red clay tiles or later, with slate roofs, with a return to tiles during the Edwardian period. The existing courthouse building used good quality traditional materials, although from a rather somber pallet. It has a complex tiled, pitched roof which reflects its context. The walls and façade are necessarily rather forbidding partly because the site was walled for security. The buildings did not cover the whole of the site.

This proposal would involve the demolition of the courthouse and its replacement by a flat roofed structure. The new building would have a curved, grey glazed tile elevation which includes shops on the ground floor. with a hotel above, facing towards the public car park regarded as being at the rear of the courthouse. The materials used are not commonly found in the conservation area, nor – by and large - are flat roofs. The main hotel elevation facing the car park is formed of large boxy unit 

Regardless of its durability, the design is out of scale with the smaller units found in Lewes and will not conserve, let alone enhance, the appearance of the conservation area.

The building proposed echoes much of the architecture of the 60s & early 70s which are in many towns & cities in the UK and are seen as eyesores now. 

We, who will have to put up with this structure long after the current developers have disposed of it will not want to be reminded of such architectural failures. 

Historically and currently residents, tourists & visitors are drawn to Lewes from a wide area because of the flint castle, flint and brick walled twittens, and the small scale, pretty streets of warm colours and quaint shops. A test for any new building in the historic core should be whether it will carry on the tradition and in turn become part of the attraction of this historic market town, rather than merely exploiting it.

This development is bland and large in scale. It might be acceptable in a new town context or on the fringe of an industrial area but is out of scale with the historic core of Lewes and will neither conserve nor enhance the South Downs National Park.