RESIDENTS are up in arms after plans to replace the windows of a “brutalist” 1960s high-rise block were put forward.
Leaseholder Freshwater penned the proposal which would see the sliding design of the 1960s building’s windows switch to a ’tilt-and-turn’ style on the estate in Margate, Kent.
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As a result, the frames will be “slightly thicker”, satisfying complains from some Arlington House residents who say the current windows are too draughty.
However, not everyone has backed the proposal.
World-famous artist Tracey Emin, who owns a flat inside Arlington House, slammed the “inappropriate” would-be change – adding the fresh frames would ruin the building’s brutalist aesthetic.
More than 200 other objections have also been filed.
Councillors were scheduled to vote on the plans at a meeting yesterday.
“Arlington House is a historic building in Margate. At the time of its construction, Margate was booming, and it was an emblem of the future,” Emin wrote on TDC’s planning portal.
“In the last few decades, it’s been left to go to rack and ruin without care or respect for its monumental brutalist architecture.
“Freshwater understood this responsibility when taking on this building.
“They cannot get away with replacing the originals with cheap, badly styled, inappropriate windows.
“As a flat owner in Arlington House, I’m totally opposed to their proposal. In short, these are wrong for this building.”
Resident Simon Pengelly, 75, added he would try to electrocute anyone who tries to replace his windows.
“To replace them with tilt and turn would give a totally bizarre appearance from the outside, totally out of character with the design of the building,” he seethed.
“It would give it different reflections from all different angles.
“My windows will not be replaced. I will connect live mains to them if they try.
“They will not change these windows. So at least one flat will look different to the rest anyway.”
Other locals hailed the switch up, stating the current windows are an ear sore during choppy conditions.
“None of them fit properly and they’re all draughty. The wind howls through them,” resident Lyndon Brand said.
“They’re just terrible. They rattle and shake.
“There are many windows in the block that have had seagull strikes and cracked.
“In the summer, the heat distorts the frames and cracks the glass.”
They cannot get away with replacing the originals with cheap, badly styled, inappropriate windows
Tracey Emin
In planning documents, Freshwater argued the new frames will be safer than the current design.
Meanwhile, in a report ahead of the planning committee hearing, a TDC officer wrote: “Overall, the proposed works would see the upgrading of the windows within the tower block to create a more thermally efficient building, with improved acoustic performance and safe openings that meet building regulations and fire safety requirements.”
She continued: “The site is neither listed nor does it fall within the conservation area, but it does lie within close proximity of the historic environment.
“Although there is a general dislike within the community for the new design of the windows that have been chosen, evidence has been submitted confirming that like-for-like replacement sliding windows would not meet current building regulations.
“The proposed tilt and turn design will generate modestly wider frames, but otherwise, the glazing bar arrangement will appear in keeping with that of the existing windows.
“The proposed works will ultimately have a less than substantial impact upon the significance of the setting of the conservation area and listed buildings, which is considered to be, on balance, outweighed by the public benefits of the proposal.”
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