ADELPHI TO GO

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 79, 30 September 1933, Page 6

ADELPHI TO GO

MORE OF OLD LONDON

SKYSCRAPER SUCCEEDS IT

The Adelphi—that bit of oldish London into which one may "turn to the right and step badk 150' years"—is to disappear as the result of Parliamentary action, says the "Christian Science Monitor." The Houso of Commons recently approved a Bill permitting erection of a modern skyscraper, replacing structures linked not" only with the finest architectural traditions of eighteenth century England, but steeped in historical and literary associations. For it was through this "mysterious place, with those dark arches," that Charles Dickens wandered as a boy and later used as settings for more than one scene in his novels. It was in the Adelphi that David Garrick lived, drawing to his rooms a distinguished company of contemporary. actors and incl'iding Dr. Johnson and Hannah More among his constant guests. Kipling is' belioved to have had quarters in the Adelphi buildings when he was writing "The Light that Failed." And it is not unlikely that, through his character of Dick Hcldar, he described that "large room that took up a third of the top storey in the rickety chambers overlooking the Thames." But despite the history which the area of the Adelphi treasures —Henry VIII once owned Durham House on that site; Sir Walter Raleigh lived there; Peter the Great was a later resident; Benjamin Franklin as agent for the American colonies made- his home in the present building—it is the architecture itself in which interest centres. FAMOUS ARCHITECTS. The work of Robert and James Adam, famous Scots architects of the eighteenth century, . the Adelphi has stood as a prized example of their contribution to the Georgian period—a contribution reflected not only in European design but in much of the best colonial architecture in the United States. It embraces as well one of the earliest examples of community planning. For in 1771 the ground sloped sharply down from the busy thoroughfare of the Strand to the shore of the Thames. The brothers Adam conceived the then original plan of raising the street level to that of the Strand by tho construction of a system of immense arched vaults which to •this day have remained one of the sights of London. Part of the river was reclaimed, and the buildings were reared in all the delicate proportion, and with the interior- and exterior adaptation of "classic ornament and warm restraint" which embodied the best of the Adam architectural tradition. Today the Adelphi, named from the joint signature which the Adams affixed to their architectural drawings, has become flanked by modern office buildings. They now dwarf the building which old etchings . and watercolours depict as virtually commanding the north shore of the Thames. NOW REPEALED. But the restriction of 1771, limiting any structure on the foreground of the site to 20 feet, remained. It is this provision which has been repealed by Parliament, together with granting permission to the present owners to alter the streets and add approximately onethird to the area of their site. Looking out across the Thames Embankment, at the point where Cleopatra's Needle cuts the skyline, Adelphi Terrace has presented the last remaining spot in the centro of London from which tho street commands an unobstructed view of the river. Parliamentary debates over the Bill referred repeatedly to this phase of the Adelphi's value. Definite plans for a modern structure have not been completed, as these awaited decision upon the enabling legislation. Some proposals involve retaining a "view terrace" in the new modern building, which could be reached through a passage-way by pedestrians. -