Background

The site covers an area of approximately 1152 sqm. and is comprised of four different buildings – two semi-detached houses, a nursery, and Alexander House, an office building.

1 Shakespeare Road is currently vacant and in need of significant repair.

2 Shakespeare Road has been used as an office since 1991.

3 Shakespeare Road is a low-quality office building. Currently it contributes very little to the urban design and function of the surrounding area.

4 Shakespeare Road was originally built as an office building and is in need of significant refurbishment. Currently, it provides a nursery distributed over 4 different floors. However, the main entrance to the nursery is not levelled to the street and the undercroft parking is a dangerous area that lacks surveillance, where antisocial behaviour and drug-use is known to occur. As such, this entrance is only used by staff. The classrooms are in the upper levels with a playground on the roof. All the levels are connected via a stair and one lift.

Overall, the site lacks any kind of coherence in terms of character, design and uses.

The site forms part of the Finchley Central Town Centre, which has been identified as a growth area by Barnet Council

Crucially, the Council have said that: “The strength of these areas lies in their diversity of uses, including strong existing food and drink sectors and strong cultural institutions such as Artsdepot.” (p.52, see here).

The site is in the town centre, currently not listed and is not within a conservation area. There are several adjacent plots to the site which are part of the Finchley Church End Town Centre Strategy, that identified them as Opportunity Sites. These sites represent opportunities to provide new facilities, services, and economic opportunities within the town centre.

The opportunity exists for the development of this site to become a catalyst for the redevelopment of the Finchley Town Centre area, bringing new life into the neighbourhood.