A controversial proposal to build two penthouses on top of the historic Old Market arts centre in a bid to pay off massive debts has split opinion.

Is altering a listed building for financial purposes the right thing to do? Ruth Lumley reports.

Great swathes of historic Brighton and Hove have been demolished or radically altered over the past 40 years.

And many of the changes, while seemingly making sense at the time, are now much regretted.

But have planners learnt the lessons from past mistakes, or are they destined to repeat them? It is a question troubling councillors and conservationists, all over Sussex, on a daily basis.

Some argue that listed buildings must remain untouched by modern hands, while others say their survival depends upon changing with the times.

This difference of opinion has been brought sharply into focus by the row engulfing The Old Market, a grand Grade II listed arts centre in Upper Market Street, Hove.

Trustees want to build two glass penthouses and sell them to help clear a massive debt, but conservationists are appalled.

Influential groups have joined forces to contest the application, but are they being realistic in the current economic climate? The trustees submitted revised proposals for the penthouses on the grade II listed arts centre after an initial blueprint was rejected by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The changes to the application include the removal of a proposed meeting room over the Busby entrance to the east elevation, and the redesigning of the east and west gables of the 1997 roof above Busby’s market.

They will go before the planning committee this week.

Criticism

However, the new proposals have attracted much criticism from groups and residents.

Objections have been sent to the council by The Brighton Society, The Friends of Brunswick Square and Terrace, East Brunswick Residents’ Association, Hove Civic Society, Lansdowne Area Residents’ Association, The Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association, and The Georgian Group.

Trustees of The Old Market, which was designed by architect Charles Busby, said they needed to build the two glass penthouses on the roof of the 19th century building to significantly cut their £1 million debt and secure the building’s future.

But Roger Amerena, from The Regency Society, said the two separate planning and economic issues should not be mixed.

He said: “We at the conservation area groups believe you should not mix the two.

“The economic argument is such that if the trust did not have a debt burden, we would not be looking at a planning application at the moment.

“Why should we try to save a trust which will not be here in 50 to 100 years time but the building will be in 200 to 300 years time with a glass addition to the top of it, which will change the whole ambience of the area.”

Mr Amerena said the plans for the penthouses were out of proportion and out of character with the conservation area.

He said: “The Old Market building forms part of a setpiece, most of which are Grade I.

The Old Market is Grade II and it was deservedly made Grade II.

“As part of Brunswick Town this proposal is the first digression from traditional design since the whole town was built in 1825 and 1826.

“There is a reason for the stylised pediment on the north elevation and that was to hide the roof of the main building.

“With the glass structure on top of that you will see it.

Everyone forgets that at night the building will be a beacon for everyone to see from the light given out by the two apartments.”

He said he doubted whether the glass structure would reflect the clouds as has been mooted but that it will reflect the buildings in Upper Market Street and Waterloo Road.

He said: “The plans the architects have used are not for residential but for commercial purposes.

I do not think there is anything like this anywhere else in the country.”

The Brunswick Estate is the 24-acre heart of a 90-acre area regarded by English Heritage as an outstanding conservation area.

Councillors Paul Elgood and David Watkins, who represent Brunswick and Adelaide wards, are also against the scheme.

Scar

Councillor Elgood said the development was unacceptable and would permanently scar an important Brighton and Hove historic landmark.

He said: “To be placing a badly thought out, modern design on top of this building causes huge concern to the local community.

“The glass penthouses will cause over-shadowing and loss of light.

We do not think you should mix the case of a sustainable business plan for The Old Market with a planning application.

“No one wants to see The Old Market fail and the community has supported the trustees since day one and they do a tremendous job.

But this is simply not the way to deal with their financial issue.

“We have raised before and we will raise again the issue of council funding to increase public use.

The trust did not come back to us to ask us to take the issue up.

What we have got now is a second planning application that they are determined to put through against the will of many local residents.”