How the new building would look

ANGEL’S “marmite” building – loved by some and derided by others – is set to be replaced by a “glass box” under plans approved by the council this week.
Based at the junction of City Road and Islington High Street, 1 Torrens Street, or “Angel Square”, is the distinctive building that’s home to Angel tube station, the Brewhouse and Kitchen pub as well as office space above.
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and where some see a masterpiece of postmodern architecture, others see “long, extensive runs of dead frontage”.
It has been branded by councillors as a “very marmite building”.
Designed by Rock Townsend architects in 1992, campaign groups SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the 20th Century Society have called for the structure to be considered a non-designated heritage
asset – a call which Islington planning officers reject.

Last year, US property giant Tishman Speyer splashed £86.5million buying the “gateway” building from Derwent London.
And following a planning meeting on Monday night the developer now has permission to demolish this facade.
Under plans drawn up by AHMM architects, the 30-year-old building will be stripped back to its frame and replaced with a large glass-and-concrete frontage that has been described by critics as a “corporate style block”
of “anywhere architecture”.
But Islington planning officers say the current building is “hostile” to pedestrians, with “noisy and smelly extractive vents that vent directly onto the pavement” and “minimal” public entrances that are difficult to access for those with disabilities.
Developers say the new retrofitted building would be more energy efficient and use “grey water” to flush toilets. But campaigners say the decision to demolish and rebuild the facade is a waste of CO2.
Green councillor Benali Hamdache, who voted against the proposal, said: “I think what’s at risk is it’s a slippery slope – that instead of having to emulate the heritage buildings around them, future buildings just have to copy this slightly anonymous box, and then suddenly we end up with a junction of mostly quite anonymous boxes.”
Labour councillor Paul Convery said: “The present facade is a very marmite building. Some post modern advocates like it, other people don’t. Equally, some folk don’t care for the replacement facade. But that really isn’t a defensible reason for refusing a planning application.”