Architecture Update: Down the hatch

THE headquarters of Gilbey's Gin at Harlow, Essex, one of a handful of post-war industrial buildings to be listed by the Department of National Heritage last year, is to be demolished. After advice from English Heritage, Harlow Council has given Sainsbury's planning permission to demolish the 1962 buildings to make way for yet another superstore and car park. Although English Heritage's Buildings Advisory Committee had originally recommended the listing of the Gilbey's factory, its commissioners said efforts to save the buildings by converting them to other uses were unlikely to be economically viable.

The Twentieth Century Society and Essex County Council had asked the Department of the Environment for a public inquiry on the grounds that 'we do not feel that the arguments for the retention of these buildings have been considered properly either by Harlow Council or English Heritage. We believe that there is ample reason for the Secretary of State to call a public inquiry so that the evidence can be professionally assessed'.