Vote on the ‘golden cloak’

The Exeter third quad building was approved by the West Area Planning Committee (WAPC) in December 2013. It will replace the former Ruskin College building situated on the corner of Walton street and Worcester place at the southern end of Jericho. The original 1913 frontage has been preserved but the rest of the structure has been demolished and will be replaced. The new building is scheduled for completion in 2016. Local residents objected to the design in 2013 on the basis of height, overdevelopment and lack of sympathy with the local area. Nonetheless the WAPC approved the building. The image indicates the areas of the roof and walls to be clad in a stainless steel material. It is designed to act as a "glowing golden cloak" around the building covering an enormous area including walls that face Worcester Place. The building will tower over the local area and redefine the entrance to Jericho from the city centre. Local residents are concerned about the proposed roof/wall cloaking material, which is planned to be a coloured stainless steel cladding, because it could generate additional heat and reflection into the street given the very close proximity. This material has not been used before in a residential setting. The Cardiff Millennium building is a relevant reference site. The decision about the roof materials has been delegated by the West Area Planning Comittee to their councillor members who therefore have the power to approve the roof materials. Their decision is likely to be imminent. The WAPC have agreed for local residents to be consulted but this is likely to be a quick process (possibly just by email). We wanted to to know whether the rest of Jericho think this decision deserves public consultation instead. There was a display of sample roofing materials displayed on the site facing out towards Worcester Place. Jericho Online readers were invited to have a good look at these samples and vote as follows: 1) Yes. The coloured stainless steel roofing materials are in keeping with Jericho's heritage, will enhance the area, and it should be left to Oxford City Councillors to decide on finer details. Or 2) No. The use of stainless steel roofing materials in such vast quantities and at such a great height should be subject to an open decision at a publicly accessible West Area Planning Committee meeting. By the time the vote closed early in December 90% of respondents had voted no.