The site of Fitzrovia's Middlesex hospital, torn down in 2008 to make way for a nasty-looking new development that was promptly stalled due to financial troubles, has been taken over by a new architect, which is planning an entirely new scheme for what is one of central London's largest projects.
The hospital site was bought in 2006 by a consortium including the Candy brothers and Icelandic bank Kaupthing. The hospital was destroyed, bar the chapel at the centre and the western wall, and plans for a new building were drawn up by Make architects. The project was given the pretty awful name 'Noho Square', instantly earning it derision from Londoners who were of the notion that the area already had a perfectly good name in Fitzrovia.
When Kaupthing sunk along with the Icelandic economy, the entire project was put on hold. Adding insult to injury, the chapel remained as the only surviving part of the original building, a sad mockery of the fine structure that it originally sat within. It inspired an interesting art project last year, but that aside has largely been forgotten about.
The project will now go ahead in an all-new scheme by Sheppard Robson, which dispenses entirely with the plans by Make, pictured above. They're planning a smaller development, with around 330 flats, 80 of them affordable, and retail units. Happily, the "Noho Square" name has also been ditched.
