Controversial scheme for 980 homes in Islington filed with council
Peabody has submitted plans to Islington council for its controversial 980-home redevelopment of the former Holloway women鈥檚 prison in north London.
The housing association said the AHMM-designed scheme, which has been funded to the tune of 拢42m by the Greater London Authority, will be 60% affordable housing, with 415 homes let for social rent.
Peabody said the development, set in a series of blocks, will have over 2,000 cycle spaces and include parks, private gardens and green roofs. It will also include a 鈥渨omen鈥檚 building鈥� community facility, designed by a women-only design team of experienced architects led by AHMM鈥檚 gender equality champion Patricia Ribero.
However, the association鈥檚 proposals for the 4ha site were criticised in the summer for not sufficiently reflecting the site鈥檚 heritage as home to the Europe鈥檚 largest women鈥檚 prison.
Campaigners Reclaim Holloway and others criticised the decision to make the women鈥檚 building a single storey under a residential block. Helen Aston, a senior lecturer at Manchester School of Architecture, said it was 鈥渄ismissive, arrogant and patronising鈥� that the design process was not being carried out by a female-led architectural practice.
A spokesperson for Peabody said the size of the women鈥檚 building had been increased to 1,489 sq m in response to feedback to its consultations, with the developer having also reduced the height of the proposals to under 30m for most of the buildings.
Peabody said it hoped to start work on the redevelopment by the end of 2022, creating 51 apprenticeships, with 30% of these for women.
The spokesperson said that long-term careers for women in the construction industry were an 鈥渋mportant part of the legacy鈥� of the scheme.
Following the consultation, the scheme will include 60 extra care one-bed homes, with the majority of the social homes being two and three-bed properties.
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