Ever since moving to London 11 years ago I have been captivated by the city’s architecture, whether past, present or future. As a member of the 20th Century Society and a Friend of RIBA, I have engrossed myself in London’s expansive array of buildings from seemingly every architectural period, covering all conceivable styles, with a broad-based interest; Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco, Interwar, Post-War, Brutalist, and Modern.

What continues to deeply concern and sadden me, however, is the relentless number of buildings that continue to be demolished with not even a statutory listing necessarily guaranteeing protection from the demolition contractors. There are currently several sites of particular concern, where developers are looking to either materially alter or demolish buildings that are both structurally sound and architecturally significant; North West House, the former Royal Mail sorting office Paddington, Southwark station and Wood Street Police Station to name just four.

A major problem for protecting buildings is that the Heritage Statements that accompany planning applications remain entirely subjective, with heritage consultants unsurprisingly giving their clients – the developers – the answers that they are looking for, which is typically that the building they intend to demolish is of no architectural importance and would therefore not be a material loss to its surroundings…surprise, surprise.

By way of example, KMHeritage’s summary that ‘North West House has no meaningful aesthetic or historic value’ allowed Rolfe Judd Planning to subsequently conclude that the building is ‘considered to have a negative impact on the setting of this [Portman Estate Conservation Area] conservation area and the adjacent Dorset Square Conservation Area. This is partly due to a number of ill-planned additions to the rear elevation but also the lack of classical order on the other three elevations’. This bears absolutely no resemblance to the North West House that I see, neither in terms of its architectural presence or its history.

The notion that the building has a negative impact on its setting is quite frankly, absurd, whilst those ‘ill-planned additions to the rear elevation’, which can in fact only be seen from above were designed in 1982 by none other than Richard Seifert & Partners, of Centre Point and NatWest Tower fame

Standing at 119-127, Marylebone Road, North West House should instead be viewed as a fine example of a neo-Georgian office building from the late 1930’s. Despite its prominent position directly between both the Dorset Square Conservation Area to the north and the Portman Estate Conservation Area to the south, the nine-storey building sadly sits in neither, and nor is it statutorily listed.

North West House, 119-127 Marylebone Road, London N.W.1

Designed in 1937 by F. W. Charity A.R.I.B.A, P.A.S.I, and A.I.Struct.E., North West House, as the name suggests was built for The North West District Permanent Building Society, as ‘a new home more worthy of its size and importance’, having outgrown its old office at 119, Marylebone Road.

Construction of 119-127, Marylebone Road, London N.W.1 © Westminster City Archives.

A construction contract was signed on October 28, 1937 with A. and B. Hanson, Ltd. of Southall, with The Soceity’s Chairman, J. George Head J.P. laying the foundation stone on February 16, 1938. Lord Meston of Agra and Dunottar, K.C.SI., L.L.D., a prominent peer of the time officially opened the building just eight months later on October 28, 1938, less than a year before the onset of the Second World War.

Construction of 119-127, Marylebone Road, London N.W.1 © Westminster City Archives.

The Society took space on the ground and basement floors, which included a Banking Hall, Board Room, General Offices and Secretary’s Office, with the remainder of the office floors speculatively let to tenants including His Majesty’s Office of Works and the Middlesex Insurance Committee. Williams Deacons Banks took the retail space on the ground floor, which still exists today as an RBS branch, scheduled to close on November 10, 2017.

Williams Deacon’s Banks Ltd., 119 Marylebone Road, NW1. Reproduced by kind permission of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc © [2017]

Having survived the Blitz, North West House remained as the headquarters of The Society, who merged with the Magnet Building Society in 1961 to form the Magnet and North West Building Society, however North West was dropped from the title six years later in 1967. Most recently, North West House was entirely let to BHS, with Lowland Homes Limited (BHS Group company owned by Tina Green) holding the freehold interest in the building.

On March 11, 2015, the same day that BHS was sold for a nominal price of £1, the freehold of the building was also sold to J9 Properties for £32m, who less than two months later on May 8, 2015, sold it on to the West End of London Property Unit Trust (WELPUT), managed by Schroders and advised by Quintain Estates and Development plc for £38.3m.

In the press release that accompanied the acquisition, Nigel Kempner, Investment Director of Quintain Estates and Development plc commented that ‘North West House provides us with an exciting opportunity for repositioning.’ Clearly ‘repositioning’ is a more palatable alternative to ‘demolishing’, however that is exactly what the North West House Property Unit Trust is now proposing, with TP Bennett having drawn up plans for a 10-storey replacement, featuring a base of Portland stone and grey-brick upper, presumably taking inspiration from North West House itself, with its Portland stone at ground level, and red brick with stone facings across the upper floors.

Ironically, in the Design & Access Statement, TP Bennett note themselves that ‘the building resembles more a residential mansion block than an office building and this points to some of its many deficiencies as an office building for the present day.’ Perhaps therein lies the answer, and that North West House should instead be converted to residential use as was in fact once planned for the upper floors.

Whether or not TP Bennett’s replacement is a suitably high-quality building is not the issue, simply that it is entirely out of keeping with the historic setting of Marylebone Road and both its conservation areas and listed buildings but most importantly, does not in any way, shape or form justify the shameful demolition of North West House.

As a final note on the buildings original architect, F. W. Charity was in fact, Frederick William Charity, who was born in Chiswick on February 14, 1891, and by the time of the 1911 Census, was already a surveyors assistant. Just like George Hill, who I wrote about in relation to the proposed demolition of Manchester City Police Headquarters, Charity’s career was interrupted by the First World War, when on June 28, 1915, he joined the army before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps on December 14, 1917.

Having survived the conflict, Charity resumed his career in architecture, and by June 1937, when he drew the final plans for North West House, was employed in the architects department of Alfred Savill & Sons at their head office at 51a Lincolns Inn Fields, London W.C.2., better known today simply as Savills. Charity died suddenly after a short illness on April 6, 1952 in Katoomba, New South Wales, having emigrated to Australia once he retired.

In a brochure produced by the North West Building Society to commemorate the opening ceremony in 1938, the company noted that they were ‘indebted’ to Charity for the ‘artistic skill and ability which has produced a fine building, which the society is proud to possess’, whilst also noting that ‘assiduous care bestowed by him in the various stages of its construction justified the confidence placed in him by the Directors.’

I am sure that those same Directors would strongly object, just as I do to KMHeritage’s crass claim that Charity ‘is of no particular significance’ and be equally saddened that their ‘noble building on one of London’s leading thoroughfares’ was set to be demolished. I therefore strongly believe that the City of Westminster should reject the current proposals and #SaveNorthWestHouse.

If you would like to Make a Comment and Object to the proposals then you can do so here;

http://idoxpa.westminster.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=ORG0QZRPFXP00