Architects delighted at news that planning permission has been granted Wych Elm development
Lifestyle / Fri 16th Aug 2024 at 02:52pm
LAST week, we reported that Harlow Council had granted approval for 4 Wych Elm, a new residential block within the emerging Wych Elm development in Harlow.
The 15-storey tower forms part of a trio of proposed new blocks designed by Ackroyd Lowrie which will deliver a total of 194 new homes. The development includes a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom units, alongside ground-floor commercial and amenity spaces.
Oliver Lowrie, practice director, told Building Design Online: “Harlow town centre is experiencing a significant change in its context, particularly on the northern boundary where Wych Elm is located. This newly approved group of sustainable developments is purposefully designed to present a unified approach for the key corners of Wych Elm and act as a catalyst for future regeneration.”
The project aims to extend the town centre into what was formerly an industrial zone. The council identified this area as a potential site for a new urban neighbourhood, combining residential units with commercial spaces, including shops, cafés, and public amenities.
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Paul
2024-08-16 15:34:47
The owner of the Gym has stated this week the gym is no longer for sale !
Mr D
2024-08-16 16:37:17
15 storeys!? It will tower over everything else in the town and be visible from Bishops Stortford! The application was foolishly passed with a vague "9 to 15 storeys" idea. Did the council naively think that this would ever be anything other than the maximum they wanted? Another Carbuncle award candidate!
Adam
2024-08-16 18:31:52
I thought we learned in the 60s-80s that high rise flats are not a good idea. Just build houses and give people and especially children gardens to play in
ALAN BARRETT
2024-08-17 06:32:04
Far too high. Probably double the height it should be.
Barry
2024-08-17 10:02:32
Harlow is going to look more and more like a run down Soviet town as time goes on. All these ugly high rises and cheap builds.
Baz
2024-08-17 12:22:08
Most if not all the tower blocks in Harlow are 15 floors so no different. Also this town needs a major overall it's outdated.the town centre looks absolutely crap with empty properties ie shops and offices. Great building new but stop bringing in terrible Tennants I understand everyone has to live somewhere but please respect it.this can only be a town to be proud of if you look after it.
H
2024-08-18 01:04:08
Take away green spaces and whack up loads of high-rise. It’s already looking like London city at the train station. We need a town community not communities in area
Mr D
2024-08-18 06:51:08
Baz you will find that the next tallest are 10 storeys high, with the average being nearer 7 storeys. Harlow is a low rise town and Gibberd designed and planned for the natural folds of the land to mask tall buildings. The Jean Mcalpine park was a mound of construction soil that was placed there to mask the Pinnacles from Canons Brook. The council rejected a lower rise at the Burnt Mill rbt before passing the 15 storey lump now there. Thanks to that decision, every developer will use it as precedent for more 15 storey blocks (and higher)
Nicholas Taylor
2024-08-18 09:45:11
You are right Mr D. At one time I believe it was proposed that the block that is planned for Broadwalk would be 27 storeys high. I am sure the architect is very pleased to see permission being given, afterall he would have got a very fat fee for the design. This is the shape of things to come if residents keep voting Conservative or Labour or don't vote at all, as things stand there will be at least another dozen large flat blocks in the area, cramming more and more people into a town of just 24 square miles. In years to come more areas will be built on, including some of the current green spaces. It is not even the case that these buildings are helping those in need of affordable housing, developers can claim that the profits they make do not allow them to provide such homes. One of the first things the Labour Government should have done was to change or ditch the rules which in effect lets developers riggle out of their responsibilty to provide affordable homes and financial contributions toward infrastructure improvements.
Chris Snow
2024-08-18 12:07:46
I support this development. We want the town centre to be vibrant, busy and to be invested in. This will only happen when people live and spend money there. There is much I love about Gibberd’s masterplan but as an economically sustainable model, a cluster of low-density neighbourhoods built around a town centre with even lower density of housing was wrong. We want places to eat and socialise, buzzing cultural activity and to feel safe after dark in our town centre? Then we need enough people living there, as in any successful town or city, to make it viable.
Nurseboy
2024-08-18 13:33:48
Not to put a spoiler on things, but has anyone thought about carparking for the occupants of said building/s?. I do remember a simular idea regarding an extension on a hospital in the north of England. Brilliant ideas were presented, wonderful graphs and diagrams displayed etc, when someone said, 'Where will the staff and visitors park their cars?' After much reassessment and jiggering about, it was found that a large double storey carpark was required to be built, before a single brick was laid. A single building requires an infrastructure, have local councils forgot this simple requirement that will enable Harlow to move forward from being built on an excellent idea through to the future.
Nicholas Taylor
2024-08-18 18:22:31
Chris Snow, I have to say i think you are completly wrong on many levels and are wearing rose tinted glasses. The south side of the Town Centre is already a pretty lively place, a cinema, bowling alley, theatre, snooker hall, two gyms, restaurents and more all within two hundred yards of each other, providing attractions for many people during the day and evening. The fact that hundreds if not thousands of homes are within a ten minute walk is a bonus not a hindrance to a thriving Town Centre. The huge flat blocks planned for the former Gate House site will have no retail or leisure facilities on the ground floor and with the need for entrances and fire exits serving other flat blocks destined for Broadwalk will mean that in fact there willl be less space for retail or leisure outlets than there are now. Allowing the building of flat blocks in the Town Centre results in families without a garden, a place where the nearest childrens play area (apart from a pocket park) will be at Hare Street and with no car parking facilities all lending to the thought that the occupants could well be like those that can be found in Terminus House. And then what of those that already occupy the shops around Market Square, are they expected to give up their leases to make way for upmarket restaurents, bars etc. I hardly think so. As we in HAP have said before, the northern side of the Town Centre needs new facilities like a new larger theatre an exhibition and a live music venue to create a go-to destination. Finally, lets not forget that a hospital move would see 3600 jobs transferred from out of the town plus all those visitors and patients who shop in the town, far more than those who would live in these flat blocks.
Hey Big Spender
2024-08-30 01:42:10
They will be an eyesore, especially as they will be built so closely together. Where is the parking for residents? Are trees going to be planted (as per the illustration)? Why 15 storeys high? Surely that is going to be far too tall for such a development. It will set a precedent for other developers to follow suit. Why is Harlow Council approving this development? Just a thought, but how about improving the shopping area of The High before building any new homes.
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