On 22 Jun 2013 at 2:27pm oldbutintouch wrote:
Check out the planning application for the new hotel on the court site in Friars Walk. www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning/ - app.no. SDNP/13/02497/FUL. Whilst the proposed flat-roofed cube is horrific, what is even more worrying is the scarcity of objections from concerned citizens. Go to the site and have a look and give your opinion. The proposal is so out-of-tune with Lewes that you don't need to use any planning jargon - just express your horror at the proposal. One of the very few objectors writes that Lewes will end up looking like "Downtown Crawley"
On 22 Jun 2013 at 6:11pm Matt Kent wrote:
Personally I'm not opposed to the replacement of the redundent court buidling but the elevations are extremely minimalisist, with very little variation and vernacular in the external envelope (some might say unimaginative). The curved form and scale of the building seem justifiable given the houses in Friars Walk, Lansdown Place etc. Maybe the first thing the designers saw was the Lansdown Arms when they got of at the station 
.
The choice of materials is questionable given the adjacent beautiful old library but given the prominence of the building on approach from the station, maybe this is what the designers wanted to achieve. I don't think there are enough quality 3D views from other directions (from the traffic junction, from Greyfriars etc) in the Design and Access statement to make any further judgement on whether I like it or not architecturally. Still massively concerned about the parking for the hotel and the massive reliance on the already busy public car parks. One mans medicine is another mans poison, and all that.
On 22 Jun 2013 at 6:41pm Southover Queen wrote:
I tend to agree, Matt. From what I can see looking at the application it looks fairly inoffensive (and actually I think the existing building is really ugly). My heart sinks at protests along the lines of "it's not in keeping" and "it will ruin our beautiful town" which tends to suggest that pastiche designs would be preferred. The charm of Lewes is its marvellous variety, and I'd much rather see a smart modern 21st century building than something aping the past.
I do very much agree about the parking. A 62 bed hotel is going to bring maybe 40 extra cars to an already busy car park and that is going to put off daytime shoppers (although presumably the thinking is that most of the parking for the hotel will be in the evening). Still, it needs addressing.
There's little doubt that a Premier Inn will do well. There's nothing like enough guest accommodation in town, certainly at the mid-price point and it will put the two near the court, in particular, under pressure to up their game I think.
On 22 Jun 2013 at 7:35pm havenrook wrote:
The Bulgarians and Hungarians will probably have no cars. so only parking for coach's will be in need.
On 22 Jun 2013 at 8:16pm lewisian wrote:
The new building comes with it's own car park which is already there so will not affect the public car park
On 22 Jun 2013 at 8:41pm Southover Queen wrote:
I've had varying opinions on that Lewisian, and I can't find anything in the documents which states that for sure. Is the car park the one on the opposite side, to the right going down Court Road? If that's the case, then it will make a big difference and a hotel will really do well.
On 22 Jun 2013 at 9:12pm The old mayor wrote:
It will be the Hungarians and Bulgarians that will be working there !!
On 22 Jun 2013 at 10:46pm Brussel Sprout wrote:
Having just cast my eye over the application I must say I find it odd that a project of this scale and nature does not have some kind of 3D rendered plans.... (unless I'm missing them?) The general public are not used to dealing with technical drawings of the kind submitted, personally I find them quite hard to comprehend (I should add I'm a trained landscape designer, so I'm used to landscape plans of this kind! but I still struggle to have clear picture of the proposal when it comes to a building. I can understand it, no problem, but it doesn't really put a clear picture in my head)
Surely a project so affecting the population of the town should have a scale model? or a more artistic 3D plan.... adding flesh to the bones so to speak.
I had a look at the website of the architects to see previous work examples. I would say it feels like a strange choice of design given the delicate state of the precinct area! (i.e. it's already quite ugly....)
On 22 Jun 2013 at 10:56pm Brussel sprout wrote:
One other thing..
They seem to be proposing some kind of green wall type feature. This may be green in the colour sense but it is certainly not in an eco sense! I gathered a little from their website that they seem to trade a bit on this new capitalism..... a selling point in other words, without substance. They would be better off planting some trees elsewhere!
On 23 Jun 2013 at 2:58am Dave wrote:
So Southover Queen what did you think of the 'diversity' of the Albion street block adjacent to the 'HQ Gallery' ?
I'm all for taking things forward in new ways but not carbuncles.
New architecture in a small town like Lewes should borrow from the surrounding environment and use that rapport to settle new ideas into place.
Amsterdam for instance has many fine examples of integrating new ideas into the very formulaic template of the older neighbouring properties. It's not difficult it just means the architects have to think about the design from a local perspective first before the constraints of Premier Inns corporate design strategy.
They will probably only do that in response to robust local opposition though. So the bottom line is if you care about how Lewes developes make your voice heard, it's not difficult
On 23 Jun 2013 at 9:01am ducatipete wrote:
The existing building is hideous and the planners must be under pressure to have the space filled so it will probably go through on the nod. It's a shame that the police could not adapt it for their use at the time.
On 23 Jun 2013 at 9:21am Conrad Hilton wrote:
Bet it won't be a Premier Inn for long, nowadays Hotels are just for buying and selling, more profitable than actually running them. Just how many have been rebranded and passed from chain to chain. The money will be in actually getting change of use and development of the site. Got to sell a lot of rooms for a longwhile at current room rates to recoup the outlay. You watch !
On 23 Jun 2013 at 9:36am Townie wrote:
@ oldbutintouch
Maybe people actually like the design of it...surely contempory can sit alongside historic. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean everyone else does. Personally, i hope it gets built just to pi$$ people like you off.
On 23 Jun 2013 at 11:29am Southover Queen wrote:
Dave, I'm not sure what you mean by the Albion St block adjacent to the HQ gallery, since that's at the junction of Lancaster St and St John St.
I'd agree with Brussel Sprout that it's hard to judge from the plans online. I know there's a set of "impressions" of how the finished building would look because I had a fleeting glance at them a few weeks ago (and thought it looked quite nice). As much as anything, I hate the knee jerk reaction to any new proposal which is that it will be "out of keeping" with our town. So it's not that I'm necessarily totally in favour of these exact plans (because I don't have enough information either way) but that I don't want to live in a fake place like Poundbury which is what people often mean when they talk about "carbuncles".
On 23 Jun 2013 at 12:37pm Clifford wrote:
I haven't seen the plans either yet, but I think we can almost certainly guarantee that as the owners and the architects won't be living anywhere near the building and that their only interest in the project is the profit to be made (though acknowledging that some architects have their professional pride they are still at the beck and call of the financiers), and that the planners have shown they hardly give a toss, there is a pretty good chance it will be crap. Though I'm prepared, and hope, to be surprised.
On 23 Jun 2013 at 2:42pm lewisian wrote:
Hi Sq yes youre right it is that carpark it comes with that plot of land and the staff from the crown court are allowed to continue to use it until the mags court is knocked down and the premier inn is in place
On 23 Jun 2013 at 5:27pm I can read! wrote:
If you read the design and access statement there are plenty of 3D images within it. And yes, the design is quite hideous
On 23 Jun 2013 at 6:37pm Brusel sprout wrote:
Great! I just had a look. Thanks.
On 23 Jun 2013 at 9:41pm Belladonna wrote:
I just hope it's nothing like the hideous pseudo modernist new houses on the avenue which are a real blight. I'm all for diversity in building styles and contemporary architecture but these houses do not sit in the locale at all and bear no relationship to vernacular styles. Awful awful awful
On 24 Jun 2013 at 5:43pm lewisian wrote:
Belladonna there is nothing wrong with the new houses in the avenue and they are amazing inside you should go and have a look might change your mind
On 24 Jun 2013 at 6:13pm Queen of the Road wrote:
lewisian, are you from the Isle of Lewis?
or are you an estate agent that can't spell Lewes?
On 24 Jun 2013 at 10:07pm lewisian wrote:
queen of the road ever heard of anagram you twat
On 25 Jun 2013 at 2:58am insomniac wrote:
lewisian ever heard of punctuation you twat
On 25 Jun 2013 at 2:59am insomniac wrote:
lewisian ever heard of punctuation you twat
On 25 Jun 2013 at 8:42am Belladonna wrote:
I have had a look. Horrible pastiche. Look like off the peg school or hospital buildings. Nothing outstanding or innovative there. No landscaping and really nasty bog standard fencing between the strips of garden. No imagination whatsoever.
On 25 Jun 2013 at 12:21pm Estate agent wrote:
Presumably for sale at cubist and west then
On 26 Jun 2013 at 10:09am Carol Vordeman wrote:
Just wondering what Lewisian could be an anagram of? Swine Ail is all I can do.
On 26 Jun 2013 at 10:12am Queen of the Road wrote:
Ian Lewis? In which case it's not very imaginative.
On 26 Jun 2013 at 10:48am wrote:
'I is a Lewn' fits
On 26 Jun 2013 at 12:39pm Carol Vordeman wrote:
Ian Lewis is hardly an anagram of Lewisian, it is the same words!
On 26 Jun 2013 at 1:08pm Pete wrote:
Shouldn't it be Lewesian ? In which case - new ailse ?
On 26 Jun 2013 at 4:29pm Carol Vordeman wrote:
Yes Pete, well done, of course it should be Lewesian, that's the whole point!
On 26 Jun 2013 at 11:40pm Insomniac wrote:
No imagination or punctuation. Looks like he can down-vote like a boss though.
On 18 Jul 2013 at 11:15am Ms Kitka wrote:
Im quite shocked by some of the comments on here. All this bickering is depressing.
Is it out of the realm of possibility to replace an existing building with an attractive one??? Not a hideous cuboid more suited to an industrial estate. It show great insensivity to plonk that down in the centre of a lovely town like Lewes. Yes there are eysores in the area. So is it right to add to the collection?
They DO NOT plan to provide additional parking!!! They plan to use the existing lot as their entrance and attached car park. Look at the plans.
They are also planning to attach a Whitbreads Pub and chain stores to the hotel Something that is destroying the character of every town in this country. And many of you are okay with this!!!???
Shame...