The developer will still build 300 flats but wants to emphasise a new ‘cut-away’ design
By Victoria Munro

(Credit: Scape/Allford Hall Monaghan Morris/East Landscape Architects)

The latest in a string of developers looking to reopen a venue on The Standard site has published the first detailed look at their plans.

The venue in Blackhorse Lane shuttered after 25 years in 2011 and both residents and Waltham Forest Council are keen to see it return.

However, twice now councillors have granted planning permission for the site and seen something scupper the plans.

Most recently, planning permission for a new venue and 300 “co-living” flats on the site was awarded in 2020 to The Collective, which went into administration less than a year later.

On 1st April, developer Scape revealed it had bought the site and aims to start work “later this year”. While their design still involves a venue and 300 flats, they are keen to emphasise its novel “cut-away” look.

Their proposals, published on their website yesterday, read: “We believe [this change] will increase the residential amenity for new residents, with greater levels of daylight and sunlight into homes, as well as creating a more human scale of building.

“We recognise that the regeneration and rejuvenation of this site has already had a couple of ‘false starts’… [but] we are confident that the vibrant plans set out here are deliverable.

“Our plans present an opportunity to bring an iconic music venue back to life for the Walthamstow community while delivering important flexible housing opportunities in a highly sustainable location.

“Just as The Standard was home to some of the world’s leading musicians, artists, and creatives in the past, we believe we can recreate this in the future. It marks the start of the Blackhorse Lane neighbourhood and is an important part of its history, culture, and future.”

The proposed building is eight storeys tall, with the new 350-capacity venue located in the basement with “best-in-class facilities, security measures, and sound proofing”.

The ground floor will have “a café, bar and restaurant to support the music venue and future residents”, with the first three floors dedicated to commercial space.

The remaining floors, meanwhile, will house around 300 “much-needed purpose-built” flats on a “co-living” model similar to The Collective’s, meaning flats will be smaller but have access to large shared facilities.

In December 2020, when The Collective’s designs were approved, some planning committee members raised concerns about this housing model.

Conservation councillor John Moss, for example, argued that the building could become “a hostel used by visitors or people who live elsewhere and commute to work”.

However, The Collective’s design stated some of the flats would be just 16 square metres, whereas Scape’s standard studio flat would be “a minimum” of 24sqm.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.