AHMM’s Holloway prison plans deferred amid backlash

AHMM计划在伦敦北部的女子监狱旧址上建造近1000所住宅，这一备受争议的计划在伊斯灵顿议员的密集反对声中被推迟。

Councillors decided they wanted to look more closely at the proposals and the impact on nearby existing homes.

The Peabody project, which was recommended for approval by the council’s planning officers, has already been revised to expand the size of a women’s centre on the site and reduce the height of buildings.

But campaigners said the scale and density of the scheme was “clearly inappropriate” and accused Peabody of deliberately withholding information from residents living in nearby homes, something the housing association denied.

该项目位于前Holloway女子监狱的旧址，该监狱曾是西欧最大的女子监狱，在2016年关闭之前，该项目将建设一个公园和高达14层的985栋住宅。

AHMM appointed an all-female teamled by a “gender equality champion” to redesign the women’s centre last year after the plans were criticised by campaigners for not being drawn up by a female-led practice.

The meeting earlier this month heard a series of objections from residents of adjacent estates who said the scheme would have a “severe” impact on daylight for some homes.

贝克斯菲尔德居民协会主席海伦·斯壮曼(Helen Strongman)说，受影响的168扇窗户中，有40扇的透光率会因为开发的密度和高度而减少40%以上。

她还引用了一些居民的话说，与目前位于基地外围的最大5层的建筑相比，14层的大楼将是“压倒性的”。

会议还听取了建筑师Neil Kahawatte的说法，他代表Penderyn和Trecastle居民协会发言，皮博迪在咨询期间多次无视关于该方案对附近房屋影响的信息。

Kahawatte said drawings showing height relationships between the new blocks and existing homes, visualisations showing the impact on the skyline and information on light levels were “deliberately withheld” from residents until the proposals were submitted for planning.

He said that as a result there had not been an ”opportunity throughout the design process to properly discuss and mitigate the harms to existing residents at the periphery of the site”.

He added that buildings would be up to six storeys higher than existing homes and that “the scale and mass would clearly be inappropriate in relation to our homes”.

Peabody said that it met with the residents associations before the proposals were submitted and presented “as much information as we had available at the time”.

The housing association said it had listened to feedback and made changes to some blocks late in the design process, adding: ”After submitting planning, we met with both [residents associations] again, along with our daylight and sunlight consultant, to clearly explain the results of our daylight and sunlight report, and what this means for those residents.

“We also highlighted where this information can be found in our planning application.

“We have held consultation events and hundreds of hours of community meetings to understand the priorities of local people and the feedback from these has helped to shape our plans for Holloway. We will continue to engage with our neighbours and the community as the scheme progresses.”

>> Also read:AHMM director hits back at critics of Holloway and St Thomas’s schemes

Campaigners including architect Sarah Wigglesworthsaid last summer that the proposals do not sufficiently reflect the heritage of the prison, where dozens of suffragettes were incarcerated.

Other inmates have included Moors murderer Myra Hindley and Diana Mitford, wife of the fascist leader Oswald Mosley. Five women were executed there including Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be judicially hanged in Britain. Oscar Wilde was also an inmate before it became a women’s prison.

The council has not set a new date for the plans to be considered.