Arundel Square, like the other garden squares of Islington, was
developed during the Victorian era. But this one was never
completed by its developers who ran out of money. Until recently
the Square had only three sides, and the North London Line ran
through its fourth (south) side in a railway cutting. A bus depot
also occupied part of that south side.
In 1996, a local architect, Bill Thomas (whose practice features
in another of my caches ‘City Road Basin Regeneration’
GC2HT4Z), had the bold idea of “decking
over” the railway line to increase the size of the public
square. Funding for the railway works proved difficult and Bill
submitted a number of planning applications between 2002 and 2003.
In July 2003 Bill obtained planning permission for a development
that could finance the railway decking by building 146 apartments
of which 31 would be affordable homes. Unusually for Islington, the
development was granted an underground car park. A cross section of
the Square, showing the underground element can be seen below. The
concrete deck covers an area of 3000 SqM and cost £4 Million.
The plans and the planning permission were sold onto the
property development company and work began in 2007 and was
completed at the end of 2010.
Controversy erupted during the construction over the number of
new residents cars allowed to park in this congested area.
Islington Council’s intention was for the development to be
‘parking permit free’, but this was legally challenged
by the developer and properties were marketed with parking permit
rights. Local residents erupted in protest and the Council put
significant pressure on the developer as the company has a 30 year
business relationship with the Council. It is part of the
consortium in Partners for Improvement, a company upgrading the
Council’s 10,000 or so residential street properties.
However, the developer had already sold 20% of the properties and a
compromise was agreed that no more parking permits could be issued.
Thus the development is 80% car free. There are 68 car parking
spaces in the basement of the building. These cost in the region of
£30,000 each.
The development has increased the size of the Square by 50%. You
can see the original line of mature trees in front of the concrete
decking over the railway line that is now a private residents
access road. As part of the development deal the garden itself has
been refurbished with a new children's play area, the garden has
been landscaped and the railings around the Square have been
renovated.
Finally, for the first time in 150 years, Arundel Square has
four sides.
