The four star hotel will provide new employment opportunities across each of its floors, from the retail areas on the ground floor, to the new restaurant and bar space above. There will be a new gym and wellness centre. Finally, East Croydon gets a smarter option to meet with friends and to enjoy recreational time!
The Community Centre replaces the scruffy and un-used seating area currently on the corner of Oval Road and Cherry Orchard Road. It will be spread over two storeys and outside new trees will be planted and the area landscaped, to create a safe and welcoming open communal area.
The derelict Cherry Orchard Gardens site will be replaced with new one, two and three bedroom affordable homes and some three storey family town houses on Oval Road. As can be seen, many of the apartments have their own generous private balconies to enjoy. The is a noticeable use of a traditional brick finish to reflect the older houses on Oval road.
We think it is innovative and imaginative that the roofs have been designed to provide living green spaces for the residents to enjoy, where they can sit and relax or even manage small allotments. There are further ground level green spaces to the rear of the building, with play areas for children and families, in a safe surrounding close to their new homes.
Facing onto Cherry Orchard Road, the ground floor will house new small independent shops, bringing new life and activity throughout the day to what is now a dull and inactive void between the station and the shopping parade further down Cherry Orchard Road. Suitable shops would be independent bakers, delicatessen and other niche retail outlets which are not otherwise available in the local area. As well as providing goods and services for the immediate needs of the new homes, these shops will encourage shoppers to continue down Cherry Orchard Road and help support our existing shopping parade.
Far removed from the oppressive high rises associated with the 1960’s, the 53 storey private residential tower soars elegantly above East Croydon Station. Designed by Cara Bamford of Make, this landmark building will be Croydon’s icon of the 21st Century. Designed as a place people will choose to want to live in, it focuses on creating a vertical community, with the whole first floor dedicated to a communal play space for children and the 43rd floor provides a triple height club room with internal gardens and terraces for the residential community. Imaginatively, the club room on the 43rd floor has a climbing wall adjoining the sheer triple height window over-looking the London skyline.
I support the regenation of east croydon station .you can count on my support. I think is a good ideal for the borough in general.
Thank you Benjamin for your support.
Do make sure you visit the “Your Say” page to register your support with the Council. Feel free to post the site details on your FaceBook or Twitter page should you have one!
I have lived in East Croydon and commuted from the station for over 10 years and i totally agree that regeneration is required. It actually looks worse now than when we moved to the area in early 2000. It feels like nothing has been done to improve matters – lots of talk and no action – and that makes me really angry.
So, in the main, i am all for this.
The issue i have is with the inclusion of a 53 storey building which i believe has been one of the strongest objections from residents. I can’t see how this is going to fit in with the skyline and my gut feeling is that it will stick out like a sore thumb. I’m also concerned about the number of people this will bring to the area and whether the infrastructure will be good enough to cater for it. This might be my simple mind but does it really have to be that tall? Even the mock up picture doesn’t look good to me.
The rest of it looks amazing and has my total support.
Sarah
Thank you for taking the time to look at this web site which was set up in part to respond to enquiries like yours. Residents for Regeneration was set up by local residents like yourself who have lived in the area for a long time and, like you, are familiar with the problems it is facing.
You are right in commenting that East Croydon and Addiscombe has declined over the past decade – it is something we all notice daily and it looks set to continue to get worse. The area seems to have been over-looked, perhaps by Croydon Council, perhaps by our local councillors. In a period of spending cuts and limited economic revival it does not seem likely that public money or resources will suddenly be forthcoming to the area which is why private regeneration plans like the one proposed by Menta should be more keenly received. It is great that you recognise, as we do, that the application proposes many fantastic improvements for the area and looks, as you righly put it, amazing.
Perhaps we could look together at the issue of the height and see if it is possible to share some ground on the matter. There are two main reason for its height, one practical and one of design. Menta own the land which was previously the Amy Johnson office block and also the land which was previously run as a car park. This is the total combined land mass on which they are able to build. As Menta are proposing to combine their plans with the new rail bridge being built by Network Rail, Menta has given up a large area of that land so that a new entrance to East Croydon station can be incorporated, with a generous amount of public realm space available. This means that Menta sacrifices some of its land on which it could build and that the land which remains available must be used even more effectively. It could be argued that Menta could reduce the height of the residential tower and build the same amount of new homes on the rest of the available site but this would preclude the building of the new boutique style hotel which is key for the provision of new employment oppurtunities and would also mean no improved recreational and leisure facilities for the local area. The other option is not to allow space for the new station entrance but this is one of the key benefits of the scheme. It has also been suggested that Menta reduce the amount of new homes being built but this may result in the whole scheme not making a sufficient return to justify the development. These are some of the very real practical reasons for its height, reasons on which its deliverabilty are based.
The other reason for its height is design. A lower, broader block takes up much more land space. Many of the disliked office blocks in Croydon are proof of this, being boxy slabs like walls of concrete spreading along whole sections of the street. Other buildings which are more liked, like the NLA tower and the Nestle building use less floor space. Imagine Taberner House laid on its side – it would probably reach as far as the Fairfield Halls! Tall buildings make an effective use of space. To suggest a practical everyday example, it is why we store our ironing boards upright in small cupboards rather than horizontally in our double wardrobes!
The residential tower has been designed to be elegant, tall and slender. It is far narrower than Taberner House or the Nestle tower. One of the other benefits of this is that it limits the width of its shadow and this shadow passes more quickly, in the same way that the shadow of a tree trunk lingers much less than the shadow of the broad canopy of branches and leaves above.
The design is also intended to make it iconic, a landmark, something noticeable. It is easy to initially assume all tall buildings are eyesores but think, perhaps, about your own experience and how you respond to tall impressive buildings. Few people would have affection for electricity pylons, even though they are tall, but many people have an affection for the two Crystal Palace transmitter towers. Certainly the Eiffel Tower is regarded as elegant and iconic and we too in England share a certain pride in our own Blackpool Tower. Consider what you might photograph to share with family or friends if you visited somewhere new, a holiday to New York or Tokyo or Hong Kong – a two storey town house or an impressive tall landmark structure like the Empire State building? Even with more traditional iconic buildings, like the Houses of Parliament, it is worth considering what we rememeber of their design, what the world focuses on other than the tall and elegant Clock Tower which houses Big Ben. The form, design and variety of iconic structures range in age and purpose but many are familiar with and have a affection for them – the Post Office Tower, the Gherkin, Canary Wharf, the Millenium Wheel, the Crystal Palace towers are all structures we like, we remember, we acknowledge, we point out, we photograph, we use as landmarks.
Sarah, it would be great if you too would help in allowing Croydon to have a landmark building of its own of which we can all be proud. Please make your support for the application known to Croydon Council via the “your Say” page on this web site.
Kind regards.
Dear Residents for Regeneration,
I’ve been living in Croydon for 4 years now. Even though this town lacks architectural charm of other areas of London, is sometimes rough, I simply love it! It’s so varied (on many levels), superbly commutable, green. I could go on mentioning its advantages forever… I welcome all initiatives that will regenerate its slightly neglected town center and make it more attractive for residents and current/future employers. I really think this town has got an enormous potential which deserves to be fully revealed:-) I’m very happy a regeneration project (one of many different ones) which I heard of for the last couple of years has finally kicked off.
Gosia
Thank you for your comments. It is really heartening that you share the aspirations Residents for Regeneration have for Croydon and, yes, it is really encouraging to see work starting to get underway.
Those of us who have lived in Croydon for a long time share your enthusiasm for our town – it has a huge amount to offer and provides a great place in which to both work and live. However, that is not to say it could not be improved and the manifold regeneration projects which are planned will all help towards making Croydon an enviable place to live in for future generations and to fulfill its immense potential.
Thanks again for your comments.