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C(S) listed Perth hotel faces demolition

August 18 2016

C(S) listed Perth hotel faces demolition
Perth & Kinross Council is considering a fresh application to demolish the C(S) listed Waverley Hotel on York Place and redevelopment of Trinity Church of the Nazarene to enable construction of a multi-use hall and gym.

Denholm Partnership Architects are seeking permission to demolish the hotel, which occupies a pair of villas and four storey tenement to the rear, on behalf of Bonhard Leasing - owned by Stagecoach billionaires Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag.

The latest in a succession of demolition bids since the hotel’s closure in 2011 the scheme has been justified on the grounds that the church needs room to expand its provision of care for people suffering from drug and alcohol dependency and that no buyer has yet been found to take on the buildings which have been deemed unsuitable for economic refurbishment.

In their design statement the architects said: “As part of the previous planning and listed building applications, evidence has been supplied to support the case for demolition in line with the relevant SHEP policies and it has been agreed that these tests have been met.

“By working with PKC on the revised proposal, which have now been agreed and are felt worthy of support, we feel that the proposal makes good common sense and removes an unattractive and unviable eyesore. The proposal also creates a new vibrant centre for the church and the community in general and in addition allows for the ongoing protection and improvement of the listed church.”
A four storey tenement block also faces demolition
A four storey tenement block also faces demolition
A low rise church hall could replace the present collection of buildings
A low rise church hall could replace the present collection of buildings

14 Comments

Big Chantelle
#1 Posted by Big Chantelle on 18 Aug 2016 at 13:45 PM
Absolutely disgustin! Boggin! Vandalism! Take yer pick folks!

Perth, wit is wrang wae yoos lot? Yer a traditional wee city wae a load ae charm. Why rip the charm oot ae yer urban environment tae replace it wae dross? Dae ye see thum putting in a pizza express intae St Peter's Square? Once these buildins ur goan, thur goan! Look at wit yer proposing -- it's rubbish. Beautiful stane buildins demolished tae make wae fur a gym contained in a hut that looks like yer papas slightly pimped oot mancave. That wee Geordie quy that presents that show on Channel 4 about sheds might like it but mast ae the civilised world (obviously no the concrete modernist brigade) doesnae. Good lawd.

Madness personified. But wit dae ye expect fae architects today? They live in this "rip it doooooon" mentality an replace wit they rip doon wae dross no even worthy ae being cawwed architecture (except by the liberal luvvies who judge architecture competitions and who reward this kind ae urban vandalism).

Mare beautiful Scottish architecshure destroyed in order tae pander tae the whimsy ae liberal vandals who have nae respect fur oor environment.
Billy
#2 Posted by Billy on 18 Aug 2016 at 13:55 PM
Why? Keep with what's there.
Egbert
#3 Posted by Egbert on 18 Aug 2016 at 14:34 PM
Only BC could describe Ann Gloag and Brian Souter as 'liberal'. Oh and George Clarke is from Sunderland, but there you go. This does look a pretty crass set of proposals though. Much of the fabric in the immediate vicinity of the site is in poor condition but surely demolition can't be the answer. Plus a low-rise detached single-storey hall on this inner urban site - on a key approach to the city centre - just seems inappropriate. Any new development should surely maintain the existing building heights and density.
Big Chantelle
#4 Posted by Big Chantelle on 18 Aug 2016 at 15:19 PM
Let's no be pedantic Egbert oor George Clarke. Does he have a Geordie accent? Aye oor naw? Wit's that -- aye. Ok, he's a Geordie then.Next you'll be arguing that Big Jimmy fae Cambuslang isnae a Glaswegian using yer pedantic contrarianism Ok mate. I know you googled where he came from an ur trying tae make a humorous rebuttal but the point stands -- wit's getting done here is pure vandalism.

And a couldnae gee a flying-you-know-wit about Ann Gloag ur Brian Souter. Hence why I didnae acshully mention them. You did. Nor wiz my lamentatshun ae the liberal domination ae the architectushural landscape in any way a specific reference to these people. They wur inclusions intae yoor post for the sake ae name dropping aw becoz ye wanted tae create the persona of an educated man who drop names with such ease yadda yadda yadda.

David
#5 Posted by David on 18 Aug 2016 at 16:37 PM
Dear Urban Realm,

Aren't we all getting a bit tired of this barrel scraping level of comments? It's an absolute embarrassment to our profession and to Urban Realm.

The schemes that are posted in the News section are a broad variety of good, bad, and ugly, but even the worst ones deserve criticism with some degree of intellect.

Time for some sort of moderation controls?...

willothewisp
#6 Posted by willothewisp on 18 Aug 2016 at 21:30 PM
This vandalism of our urban landscape is appalling. The owners of this building have been trying for years to redevelop this site. People who buy listed buildings should see themselves as custodians of the built environment not owners to do as they please. There should be a duty on owners of buildings of this type to adequately secure them to ensure acts of vandalism are at least minimalised. What is left should now be redevloped but at least in a scale and fashion befitting such a prominent city centre site.
Terra
#7 Posted by Terra on 19 Aug 2016 at 06:33 AM
Good god. Surely the local council won't approve any demolition on any of those buildings.
Also #5. There's nothing wrong with a bit of humour to lighten the mood; and if you actually read the comments by certain posters who like to have a laugh sometimes you'll see they always make valid, relevant points, wether you may agree or not.
Mr Boring
#8 Posted by Mr Boring on 19 Aug 2016 at 09:11 AM
UR - agree with #5. Editorial in place of negative and incoherent comments section please.
Urban Realm
#9 Posted by Urban Realm on 19 Aug 2016 at 10:38 AM

The colloquial diatribes are certainly crowding out other voices and any valid points being made are increasingly repetitive. Future commentary will be restricted to posts which advance debate.
Mr Boring
#10 Posted by Mr Boring on 19 Aug 2016 at 11:05 AM
A word limit akin to twitter would be good to promote concise, accurate comments. BC can really prattle on ..... :)
Cadmonkey
#11 Posted by Cadmonkey on 19 Aug 2016 at 11:22 AM
The applicant appears to have had numerous goes at trying to convince Historic Scotland that these listed buildings should be knocked down, without reaching agreement.
Lots of statements about how the buildings condition is getting worse.
Surely the fundamental point is that to comply with SHEP the buildings have to be put on the open market with a fair asking price reflecting their condition. If no offers are received from purchasers prepared to restore the buildings then that puts the prospect of demolition more likely, but that test has to be carried out. It doesn't appear to have been so far.
aftershocker
#12 Posted by aftershocker on 19 Aug 2016 at 13:55 PM
BC - I noted a MacDonalds directly across from the Pantheon last time I was in Roma
Craig Comerford
#13 Posted by Craig Comerford on 21 Aug 2016 at 14:39 PM
The Waverley hotel is part of a series of houses that line York Place. They are not unpretty, but clearly do not function anymore. I worked in one of these houses, when it was an architecture practice. I hope for a coherent contemporary design. I'm personally worried that we'll end up with a de scaled version of what already exists, instead of something genuinely contemporary.
Sven
#14 Posted by Sven on 23 Aug 2016 at 22:54 PM
This is a busy route into Perth town centre and York Place goes from 3 story tenements to largish villas quite quickly and needs a larger building than the hall planned to make contextual sense. We also need to remember that most of York Place are listed buildings.

The current building is Category C listed (http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB51737)

I am against developers deliberatly leaving buildings to rot for years to get their own way and inveitably 'burn down at night', which is exactly what has happened here.

As punishment the owners should be compled to rebuild the former hotel in the original style as fully as possible and not be allowed to build a hall for the 'church' next door.

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