HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

KEY

CURRENT LAYOUT

REGENTS CANAL

INDUSTRIAL WHARF BUILDINGS

Regents’ Canal was key for transporting good and supporting industry in Camden Town. The site is clearing orientated to gain access to the canal and providing connection to main roads, a clear hierarchy between primary and secondary routes.

CURRENT LAYOUT

REGENTS CANAL

INDUSTRIAL WHARF BUILDINGS

ST. MICHAELS CHURCH

2.1 SITE HISTORY 1910 - 1970

Built in 1939 the 4 storey Art Deco main production building of the ABC bakery occupied the eastern side of Kentish Town Road where the existing building at no 20 Kentish Town Road is located today. ABC Bakery rteplaced the industry that utilised the canal and wharf, introduing more retail down Camden Rd.

The ABC bakery consisted of several buildings extending between Kentish Town Road and Camden Road with some built on the canal. Two main buildings dominated the townscape. A 1920s building on the corner of Camden Road and Camden Street and an Art deco building on 1939 on Kentish Town Road, designed by CW Glover. This was to be the main production building of the ABC Bakery from then on. The site was used as a bakery until 1976. The introduction of ABC Bakery and the reduced traffic on Regents Canal transformed the site, over 100 years, the site now faces outwards addressing the streetscene instead of the courtyard that connected to the canal.

Large scale manufacturing largely moved out after the Second World War and by the 1960s the canals use for commercial functions had ceased. 1970s artists and craftsmen moved into a declining neighbourhood. The first markets started in 1972 and soon catered for visitors rather than locals. Camden’s industrial heritage made way for retail, tourism and entertainment, including markets and music venues that are strongly associated with alternative culture.

KEY

Historical Analysis

KEY

CURRENT LAYOUT

REGENTS CANAL

ABC BAKERY BUILDINGS

ST. MICHAELS CHURCH

The existing building at no 20 Kentish Town Road was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the Sainsbury’s development. The existing building is part of the 1980s Sainsbury’s supermarket development on Camden Road designed by Nicholas Grimshaw Architects.

CURRENT LAYOUT

REGENTS CANAL

ABC BAKERY BUILDINGS

ST. MICHAELS CHURCH

Historical Analysis

2.3 1970 GRIMSHAW SCHEME

In 1986 Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners submitted plans that comprised:

A supermarket building on the Camden Road

Two storeys of light industrial workshops along Kentish Town Road below which are parking, servicing and two lettable units (Grand Union House)

A row of twelve homes on the canal side

A vehicle and service area within the site giving access to basement car parking together with a landscaped pedestrian route through the site.

The scheme was completed in Autumn 1988.

High Tech structure spanning over a column-free space was the starting point of the supermarket design. The curved roof shape, the structural columns with ties and the large lattice beams which carry the first floor accommodation are all clearly expressed. It it has a great urban presence on an important town centre corner, the long elevation is punctuated at various points by staircases and other features.