By Vikki Miller
Smithfield’s general market building will be saved from the bulldozer under new plans for the historic site, drawn up by architect John McAslan, BD can reveal.
Developer Thornfield Properties had wanted to demolish the general market building at the celebrated London meat market and put in a huge flat-fronted steel and glass office-led scheme designed by KPF.
But following its defeat in August by English Heritage at a public inquiry over the controversial development, Thornfield has given up its fight to knock down the Victorian red brick buildings at the western edge of the market and has replaced KPF with John McAslan & Partners.
The news will please opponents of the KPF scheme, including Prince Charles, who described the plans as “an act of vandalism”.
“We have to go back to first principles and start the whole thing again,” John McAslan said. “The absolute prerequisite is the general market building will be retained. That is the first condition. It will be a mixed-use scheme and it has to be viable and realistic.”
It understood that McAslan was asked by Thornfield and EH in late 2006 to work up proposals that both sides could sign up to and avoid the public inquiry.
But these plans were shelved and KPF instead modified the existing scheme, which communities secretary Hazel Blears ruled would “significantly detract from the market complex as a whole”.
Former RIBA president George Ferguson, who acted as an expert witness for EH in the inquiry, welcomed the change of architect and called on McAslan to come up with something radically different.
“I have already contacted John to say I am happy to be a sounding board,” he said. “My greatest fear is that they will use John’s architecture to make a prettier version of what went before. That would be deeply depressing. This site could be an enormous asset to the city.”
Mike Capocci, chief executive of Thornfield, said: “It would be presumptuous to say what scheme will emerge but if the architects are confident they can make a viable scheme that does not necessitate the demolition of the general market then we would be delighted.”
KPF declined to comment.
New plans to preserve Smithfield
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