logo

The only body that has doggedly fought for the island's distinctive architectural heritage is the Isle of Man Victorian Society It

Posted by admin   ·     ·   Jump to comments

The only body that has doggedly fought for the island's distinctive architectural heritage is the Isle of Man Victorian Society It has a great battle on its hands. Hitherto, the losses of good Victorian buildings have been isolated, if frequent. Now there is a threat to a large piece of the 'noble sweep' of the promenade, Douglas's glory.With typical hyperbole, Betjeman once compared Douglas Bay with the Bay of Naples (which I don't think he ever saw), but it is a noble scene with its gentle curve of bay-windowed and stuccoed Victorian buildings stretching along the Loch promenade laid out by Governor Loch in the 1870s. I can think of nothing like it in any other British seaside resort.What is now threatened is the Villiers Hotel, a large assembly of buildings between Regent Street and Victoria Street.

Once the largest hotel in Douglas, the Villiers closed in the late Eighties. It could have been restored, but Man's Department of Tourism, while subsidising tawdry modern hotels, declined to support this project as the result would not be new. The site has been bought by AXA Equity & Law International, which wants to pull everything down and build offices instead. Manx authorities are doing everything they can to make this happen.There is, of course, the argument that Douglas need not be stuck in a time warp and should encourage new architecture along with new business.

There are, however, many other sites in the town where a fine new building could be a positive asset. Even then, the general standard of new architecture on the island is so abysmal that there is no reason to suppose that what will replace the Villiers will be any better. One has only to look at the illiterate postmodern rubbish that replaced the Peveril Hotel opposite the Sea Terminal to feel pessimistic. It may be, of course, that Equity & Law's architects, Haworth Tomkins of London, will produce a masterpiece, but as Douglas continues to demolish Victorian buildings without designs for their replacement being published or approved, we cannot tell.I would not for a moment suggest that the Villiers block or indeed anything along the promenade at Douglas is great architecture. The point is that it is part of a much larger whole which is both special and splendid. What ought to happen is what the Isle of Man Victorian Society advocates, a conventional redevelopment behind a retained facade.

readers comments

Comments are closed.

NBA

NBA

MLB

MLB

NFL

NFL

NHL

NHL

WWE

WWE

Your sideblock text goes here