Archway Tower

Archway Tower

The Archway Tower, at 2 Junction Road, Archway, London N19, is a 195-foot (59 m) office building built over Archway tube station and was completed in 1963. Local opinion is divided on the tower, some finding it architecturally unattractive, while others welcomed the fact that it brought employment to the area, as well as office workers who patronize small local businesses.

Islington London Borough Council are carrying out a consultation to decide on the future of the tower and surrounding roundabout and shopping mall, with the contract for redevelopment being handed to Britain's largest architectural practice, BDP. In 2005, Building Design magazine carried an article describing how Islington residents were accusing the council and BDP of forcing through plans for a supermarket on the site despite widespread opposition among local people. The architectural practice is accused of scheduling meetings at inconvenient times and failing to publicise consultations. BDP denied the charges.^[1]

Formerly the property of UK government, it was sold off and rented back on a 42-year lease which expired in 2009. In October 2007, the tower was sold by Wichford plc to Scarborough Property Group.^[2] As a result, the Saturday farmer's market was moved onto Holloway Road.

Side view

The building, then used for Social Security, inspired the song "Archway Towers" by New Model Army. Toppers' House in Nick Hornby's 2005 novel A Long Way Down is said to have been indirectly inspired by Archway Tower, but also by the eponymous Archway over Archway Road.

The building was empty for several years before becoming home to the Public Guardianship Office in 2001 which became the Court of Protection and the Office of the Public Guardian in 2007. The Court and the Office of the Public Guardian vacated the building in 2011.

Developer Essential Living purchased the building in 2013 for £6 million.^[3] The developer says that it intends to use the new permitted development rules to make the brutalist 16-storey Archway Tower into “one of the country’s biggest office to residential conversions”. It intends to create 108 new homes to rent inside the tower.

References

1. Building Design, 9 December 2005
2. "Wichford sells Archway Tower property to Scarborough Property for 11.04 mln stg". ADVFN. 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
3. "CoStar UK - The Leader in Commercial Property Information". Costar.co.uk. 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2014-05-28.

Coordinates: 51°33′56″N 0°08′06″W / 51.56556°N 0.13500°W