Pics Of Walthamstow Stadium Redevelopment

Developers have released the first pictures of how Walthamstow Stadium will look after a £100m revelopment.

The stadium was shuttered in 2008, leaving many of its former canine competitors homeless and sparking an outpouring of dismay from people including one David Beckham, who as a nipper earned a crust by working at the track. Indeed, the closure provoked so much criticism that it was tempting to wonder if, had every complainant made just one visit to the 'Stow and thrown a bet on a pup, the place would never have been imperilled in the first place.The new development retains the 1930s Art Deco entrance and the listed dog kennels (plans are afoot to turn them into a creche), but little more than that remains. The dog track is replaced by 490 homes (half of them "affordable") of a characterless, pre-fab design that look like they've been thrown in from a stock library of such things.Thankfully the 'Stow hasn't been lost quite yet: there's a campaign to save the dog track, and the local Labour parliamentary is also making it a campaign issue. These derisory designs might just inspire further opposition.More picture at Building Design.