Planners approve redevelopment of 1950s block where band members first crossed paths
Westminster City Council has approved AHMM-designed proposals to redevelop a 1950s office block in Marylebone that formed the backdrop for the first meeting between the three core members of legendary band the Clash.
On Tuesday, the authority’s planning committee gave the green light to the practice’s plans to replace the four-storey block on Lisson Grove, which was purpose-built as a labour exchange, with a seven-storey office building that includes a roof terrace.
A Job Centre Plus is still part of the buildings currently on the site. In the mid-1970s it was the location of the first face-to-face encounter between future Clash vocalist Joe Strummer, guitarist Mick Jones and bass player Paul Simonon.
Strummer subsequently said he feared his bandmates-to-be were planning to mug him at the time.
In addition to the Job Centre, the current building is home to a Tesco convenience store. Neighbouring 18 Hayes Place – which is now a yoga studio – will also be demolished to make way for the new scheme, designed for Viridis Real Estate.
A report to members of Westminster council’s planning committee described the existing building – which was one of the capital’s largest labour exchanges when it opened in 1960 – as “generally unwelcoming”.
AHMM’s proposals would deliver 10,201sq m of new office space and a new 423sq m shop unit, which would be slightly larger than the current Tesco branch. There would be no replacement facility for the yoga studio.
The practice’s designs will reuse the current building’s basement. AHMM is proposing a hybrid cross-laminate and steel structure for the new block, which would allow for significant future alterations.
In their report to councillors, Westminster planning officers said AHMM’s proposals represented “high quality design” that was appropriate for the location. But they acknowledged the new building would harm the setting of the nearby Chapel of St Edward’s Convent of Mercy, which is grade II listed.
“The proportions and regular fenestration pattern ensure that the new design sits comfortably with the adjacent Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian buildings,” they said.
“The building is considered to preserve the setting of the Lisson Grove Conservation Area and provide a suitable termination point along Bell Street.”
They concluded: “Overall, the proposed building is considered acceptable in design and conservation terms and provides an exciting new building that positively contributes to the townscape.”
Councillors’ decision to approve AHMM’s plans is subject to conditions, including the finalisation of a Section 106 planning gain agreement.
The putative first meeting between main Clash lyricist and vocalist Joe Strummer and his future bandmates is part of the mythology of the punk-turned-rock band.
In a 2011 interview with BBC 6 Music, Jones described the fraught first interaction – which happened at a time when he and Simonon were keen for Strummer to leave his then band, the 101ers, and join them.
“We saw him in the dole office and we were in the other queue, Paul and I and [Slits guitarist] Vivienne Albertine,” Jones said.
“He was looking at us and we were looking at him. We were looking at him because we’d just seen him play and we thought – oh wow, it’s Joe Strummer.
“He thought we were going to have a fight with him after he went out with the money. He said he thought he’d hit me first.”
Strummer died of a heart attack in 2002 at the age of 50, weeks before he, Jones, Simonon and Clash drummer Topper Headon were due to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
No comments yet