Photo-impression looking west down Carlton Hill |
Photo-impression looking east up Carlton Hill |
The architect appears to have completely missed the point. The point being that the whole rationale for retaining the present wall is based on its age, the evidence of the craftsman's hand, its mass, and the way its profile defies the gradient. The proposal by the applicant to replace it with a modern version of precast blocks into which flints have been haphazardly embedded, a wall with brick quoins which tamely follows the gradient of the hill and of a style which can be seen on any suburban street, is quite pointless.
The old wall. |
The Carlton Hill CA Character Statement recognises the visual and historic importance of the original wall to the streetscape. The statement describes the wall as imposing, and properly calls for its retention and restoration as part of any development of the site behind. Rebuilding in a modern style with modern techniques hardly fits this description.
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"Gawd, with some architects it's like talking to a brick wall." How sad is that!
ReplyDelete~ Barry Coidan (by email)