Monday 7 February 2011

Deptford Lounge and Giffin Square

...generally looking pretty uninspiring right now!

With some of the hoarding removed, the east end of the Tidemill School/Deptford Lounge building is revealed, but it's difficult to work out what it's going to look like since I guess they still have to add the cladding. I am assuming that the big gap in the middle of the top floor is going to be fully glazed, which is why it has no walls right now.


As Sue so movingly commented a couple of posts back, the wonky pergola and the rest of the shabby street furniture is gone from Giffin Square. The only remaining item being the loos, with their own little pathway of paving stones wending through the fences. Hopefully we will be seeing improvements very soon!

9 comments:

Sue said...

Black, Black, Black as Charlie Higson used to say on the Fast Show.

We are truly doomed. It's like a giant coffin of cindered wood...

Not surprising that those living opposite will be rehoused as part of "the plan", but for how long will they have to live with the darkness before they are?

Appalling! It never looked like that in the plans!!!

JamesP said...

It'll have some cladding added to the gloomy black though surely before completion.

More worrying is the battleship grey new flats next to resolution way. That's the final colour. Grey. Lovely next to a grey sky. How gloomy do architects want to make our environment?

Deptford dame said...

Indeed JamesP, if you look back a couple of posts you'll see my comments about the social housing.

Keith said...

The cladding to the South elevation is yet to be fastened to the projecting frames. The planning drawings show this to be a perforated bright gold metal screen.

The hole at the top of the building will also be obscured by the gold screen - its a basket ball court on the roof so it wont be glazed!

(this is all provided they go ahead with what was consented but you know.....)

Sue said...

Oh yes, now I realise the black will be gold...thank God for that.

Meanwhile, the laying of stones on Douglas Way goes slower than a snail's pace, I'd say about 10 square metres a week. It's like watching worms make silk.

The construction workers look like they've never laid a paving stone in their lives and are slow to learn, particularly since none of them speak English and it seems to take 6 of them to lay one stone.

As for the trees, like they're gonna last, with only two square ft holes to grow in.

What an appalling waste of money. I have to keep telling people it's not Lewisham's money, but in the end it doesn't matter where the money came from, it's just a complete and utter farce. Especially since every Sistine-Chapel-like stone will be filthy in a year and once laid, never ever ever cleaned until replaced again in 10 years time in yet another ridiculous regeneration exercise.

tombola said...

come on! let's face it deptford is a bit of dump- practically anything would be better than how it was.

Deptford Dame said...

@tombola surely, whatever your considered opinion of Deptford, if money is being spent on improvements, we should aim for something that is beautiful as well as functional? There's no crime in caring about where you live.

Anonymous said...

Deptford has some beautiful architecture, particularly the churches. I agree that we need to see some more beauty in this area rather than gimmicky buildings that are built to shine for as long as 'whoever' get their brownie points and are then left to become dirty ghetto style buildings.
Deptford was probably last beautiful about 800 years ago and historically is an example of how ugly the greed of those who exploit other for their own gain is.
Something sort of rings familiar about that.

KayeJ said...

Any updates since February? how's it looking now?