Green light for DMFK replacement of 1906 Hackney building

Hackney councillors have approved plans by De Metz Forbes Knight (dMFK) to demolish a century-old residential block and build new student housing in its placeThe London borough granted consent for the practice to replace the 1906-built Thoresby House on City Road with a 12-storey brick building earlier this month.Backed by Arcadia University, the scheme will create 140 beds across 73 rooms, as well as studios, communal lounges, amenity and teaching spaces and roof terraces.A non-designated heritage asset, Thoresby House was used as nurses’ lodgings until the 1950s. The Royal Chest Hospital the building was attached to was bombed during the Second World War and later demolished.The Hackney Society warned that ‘substantial harm’ would arise from the loss of Thoresby House, while the Shoreditch Conservation Area Advisory Committee talked of ‘irreparable harm’.Arcadia University – a not-for-profit education provider offering placements to US students on exchanges – uses the existing building to house 33 students. But De Metz Forbes Knight said it was not fit for purpose.Planning officers said ‘constraints relating to access, circulation and layout’ meant a refurbishment and extension of the current building was not feasible. They added that the proposed new build had been cut down from 20 to 12 storeys following talks between the applicant, the council and its design review panel.A foundation stone, laid by Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise in1876 to commemorate the hospital’s outpatients department, will be integrated within colonnade landscaping at the entrance to the new building.Meanwhile a surviving decorative metal gate and brick wall stump from the demolition of the hospital will be reinstated on the south-west corner of the site to secure its perimeter. There will be an information display explaining the site history in the reception of the new build.Officers told councillors that the loss of Thoresby House was ‘acceptable given the high-quality design and architecture of the new building and the mitigation measures in place to preserve the building’s history’.