Finsbury Park Station/City North Development

Arkady

As far as I can see, the previous threads for City North have been 'closed for discussion', so I'm starting a new one as I've noticed that the hoarding has gone up, and diggers are on site to start demolition.<br><br>This is going to be huge, and last for years.  Hopefully we won't see much construction traffic at our end (Fonthill will get the worst of it) but I would imagine that they will have to close the Wells Terrace tunnel at some point.<br><br>http://www.stroudgreen.org/discussion/954/city-north-scheme-wow/p1<br>http://www.stroudgreen.org/discussion/1957/2-new-skyscrapers-for-finsbury-park/p1<br><br>A decent overview of the scheme: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1030381&page=3<br><br><br><br>;

andy

Threads that don't get any traffic for a long time, get archived (it's like, 6 months or something).

marko

I had wondered what was happening there. The last schedule I saw had the premises vacated in September 2012 followed by surveys and strip-out of hazardous materials.  <div><br></div><div>I would have assumed that demolition would have already started by now. </div>

Arkady

There have been diggers on site for a month or so.  It might be that internal strip-out has been going on for longer.<br>

ChangN4N6

God it looks hideous! How they get away with that ugly fucker? Broadwater Farm with more zombies chang

yagamuffin

As long as the green bits make it to the finished construction then I think it's going to look pretty good.

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yagamuffin

It would be nice to see drawings with the new John Jones buildings behind it for some more perspective.

Arkady

If you like 60s brutalism and don't like this then I don't think we will ever agree on architectural aesthetics.

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Arkady

I think it's rather elegant, and I *love* the new street-plan.  A lot will depend on the use of materials, as always, but the developer has a good record on that.<br><br>I can confirm that TFL have agreed to work with the developer to open a new western ticket hall for FP underground station too, which is nice.<br>

R&J

I don't mind it. It's hardly the most scenic of spots anyway

JoeV

I don't mind the towers, there's already one on the estate next door, but the 10-storey base that runs the length of the project is massive. 

ChangN4N6

C'mon it's an eye sore and will deteriorate quickly . Chang

NorthNineteen

I like the architecture, my main concern is that much of the retail will be empty.  It may well have too high a rent for existing Fonthill businesses and I can't see it being that attractive (or beneficial) for chain type retail.  I recall reading M&S had primarily been lined up with a food store.  It'd be a good location for a mini Morrissons.<br>

Arkady

Aha! <a href="http://planning.islington.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning Applications On-Line&amp;TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&amp;PARAM0=382715&amp;XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Islington/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&amp;FT=Planning Application Details&amp;PUBLIC=Y&amp;XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Islington/Menus/PL.xml&amp;DAURI=PLANNING" style="font-weight: normal;">Revised plans for City North have been submitted.</a><div style="font-weight: normal;"><br></div><div>The key difference can be seen <a href="http://planning.islington.gov.uk/NorthgatePublicDocs/00307914.pdf" style="font-weight: normal;">here</a>.  The existing Wells Terrace entrance and tunnel will go. That gives City North more basement and ground floor space - in exchange the new Western Ticket Hall will be larger than originally envisioned. Everything else will be much the same.</div>

Arkady

See also this lovely new PDF showing the plans for the station:<div>http://planning.islington.gov.uk/NorthgatePublicDocs/00307920.pdf</div>;

NorthNineteen

Interesting, my thoughts:<br><br>1. Closure of all access from Wells Terrace is going to be a right pain while construction takes place - not looking forward to that<br>2. Looks like this will delay the step-free access as it states lifts will only be installed once the new Western access is complete - this must be a couple of years away?<br>3. No idea how the station will handle concert in the park while the Wells Terrace exit is closed<br><br>Also, I read in the Evening Standard an article about Finsbury Park which said City North would have a Waitrose and a new cinema - first I've seen of some kind of confirmation of either of these.<br>

Arkady

Yep, lots of disruption.  The station will feel a lot bigger and less crowded when it's done, though.

Ali

and there will be gates

Jonathan

Sorry if I'm missing the obvious, but is it clear whether the Wells Terrace entrance is intended to close before or after the new one opens? Surely the former would be unmanageable in terms of congestion in the tunnels / newly installed gates / ticket machines etc?

Sutent

Plans look good. Yes disruption is going to be crazy. I wonder how the construction will affect the bus stops of W7, W3 and 210. <div><br></div><div>N19 - Waitrose I can understand. Do people still go to the cinema regularly. I go about once a year and the one on Holloway Road is always deserted when I have been</div>

ChangN4N6

C'mon it's an eye sore and will deteriorate quickly . Chang

ChangN4N6

What is the planned competition date for station please? Chang

Tomtom

@<;span class="Author">NorthNineteen: Do you have a link to the Evening Standard article about the Waitrose and the cinema? I tried to google it but did not find anything.</span><span class="DateCreated"><a href="http://stroudgreen.org/discussion/comment/72500#Comment_72500" class="Permalink" name="Item_18" rel="nofollow"><br></a></span>

Arkady

@Sutent - I wouldn't expect the construction to affect the bus station directly.  Construction traffic will be routed via Goodwin St.<div style="font-style: normal;"><br></div><div style="font-style: normal;">@Jonathan - the final two slides suggest to me that Wells Terrace will close first.  Looking at the layout of the new ticket hall it's hard to imagine how they could do it any other way.</div><div style="font-style: normal;"><br></div><div>The new Station Place gateline will be <i>outside </i>the station, under the canopy roof.  So it will be quite long, and cater to both the underground and National Rail entrances, so entry might be easier than you might otherwise fear.  No doubt they will eventually remove the irritating gateline at the top of the National Rail stairs, as it will be redundant.</div><div style="font-style: normal;"><br></div>

Papa

They should come up with some way of keeping Wells Terrace open for as long as is possible. Closing it will be a nightmare for all those who access the station from the North - which is quite a lot of people.<br><br>And I say that as someone who uses the tube once a week, maximum, so it's not just a selfish I can;t be arsed to walk round the front opinion.<br><br>I've always thought we should get special residents passes that allow us in through the Wells Terrace entrance when they close it for the football matches. Walking round the front and joining a long queue of Gooners is one of life's little annoyances.<br>

Arkady

I will probably end up using Harringay a lot more, which will be costly.<div><br></div><div>Having said that, the walk around to Station Place is only a few metres more, right?</div><div><br></div><div>I've just noticed that the plans appear to show that the shops between the two Station Place entrances will be removed to create a small concourse there.</div>

Sutent

The walk around the other side will take less than 90 seconds

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Arkady

Being able to walk down a wide pedestrianised street, rather than that tunnel, will be an enormous boon.