16 C O N T E X T 1 5 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 7 SEAN McENTEE Reconciling conservation and sustainable development The controversy around a development proposal for Norton Folgate in London sheds light on the need to balance conservation and urbanism. A 2014 development proposal for Norton Folgate, a one-hectare site abutting the boundary of the City of London, became an enduring contest between the developer British Land and the conservation group the SpitalfieldsTrust, persisting until the trust’s options for appeal were exhausted in November 2016. The commercially driven proposal of British Land, on behalf of the Corporation of the City of London, which owns the site, was met by a vigorous campaign of resistance from the SpitalfieldsTrust, buttressed by the presentation of a rival, conservation-led vision for the site. The two distinct proposals allowed comparison of different approaches to a site wholly within a conservation area and in close proximity to the expanding financial district of the City of London, as expressed in commercially and conservation-led schemes, but also for comparison of the impacts each scheme would have on a triple bottom line of sustainability, and how sustainability outcomes are mediated with priorities of contemporary conservation practice. The original comparative analysis used the issues and criteria from the BREEAMCommunities rating framework, with its multi-focal examination of environmental, social, cultural and economic aspects, to examine the sustainability contribution of both proposals, and planning policy to evaluate impacts to heritage assets. The evaluation of the distinct approaches of developer and conservation-led responses to the Norton Folgate site, coupled with the application of a ratings framework and planning policy, helped to illustrate the limitations of contemporary interdisciplinary practice, and where opportunities may exist to fortify the application of conservation and sustainability principles through a better understanding of how core principles align. Axonometric of the Norton Folgate site as it is now. Building dates: 1 Edwardian; 2 1960s; 3 1950s; 4 1973; 5 late 19th century; 6 mid-to-late 19th century; 7 mid-tolate 19th century; 8 1927.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=