Policy information sourced from Hackney Local Plan 2033

SHX1 - Former Rose Lipman Library, Downham Road N1 5TH

Allocation: Mixed use including residential, and supporting retail, and community facilities

Development Principles:

The former Rose Lipman Library is part of a housing estate and previously housed the Archive Library before it was relocated to the new Dalston Library. The re-provision of community facilities for the local area is required on this site, which may be achieved through the retention and refurbishment of the former Rose Lipman Library as part of a wider redevelopment scheme incorporating residential uses including the maximising the provision of genuinely affordable new homes.

Development on this site should help to re-establish a block layout with clear fronts facing the street and private courtyards / gardens for residents at the rear. Development should aim to repair and clarify the street network through the site and should re-establish a consistent scale of built frontage and enclosure to the street.

An indicative appropriate building height for the site is in the range of 4 to 6 storeys. The Downham Road frontage will need to have respect to the low scale of existing buildings opposite. The site is flanked on three sides by three 18 storey tower blocks. Additional tower developments will not be justified on the basis that there are already tall buildings nearby and there is no strategic reason to mark the site with additional tall buildings.

Indicative Capacity: 200 Residential units and 1,650sqm of community use

For more information please see the Hackney Local Plan 2033