Islington councillors twice rejected demolition proposals for the former Children’s Society centre but the Planning Inspectorate ultimately backed the developer
The demolition of a former children’s charity headquarters has been rubber-stamped by Islington Council after years of wrangling over planning.
The US-based firm Royal UK Properties III Ltd received consent to knock down and rebuild Edward Rudolf House in Clerkenwell on Thursday (September 10), six years after the company first bid to redevelop the site.
The two-storey building, renamed after the founder of the Children’s Society, became the national charity’s HQ in 1986 but the site has lain empty since 2019, when the charity sold the building for £17m due to the need for major repair works.
In 2020, the council rejected a scheme to erect a five-storey office block in its place, citing concerns over the impact on surrounding buildings – some Grade II-listed – as well as the loss of light and the proposed block’s “incongruous” and “dominating” architecture.
Upon appeal, the Planning Inspectorate backed the council in 2021, echoing warnings over the negative effects the rebuild would have on the surrounding neighbourhood.
When in 2023 the developer came back with fresh designs, including a shorter building, the council failed to make a decision within the legal timeframe.
This led to the developer filing a ‘non-determination’ appeal, which was granted by the Planning Inspectorate in October 2024. The inspector deemed the existing building an “unmistakable eyesore” and judging the updated designs “striking and sympathetic”.
The plans were brought back to the council’s planning committee on Thursday (September 10), after the developer made further changes, including scrapping earlier plans to deliver affordable workspace due to financial constraints.
Committee Chair, Toby North, said he was “loathe to see” the loss but conceded that the inspector’s 2024 decision to grant the appeal meant it “wouldn’t be robust” for the council to reject the scheme again.
Demolition of the existing building is already underway, council reports confirm.
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