On Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:41:37 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

For those interested in more detail of the Great Portland Street case,
there is a .pdf file at
http://tinyurl.com/s7m6u . English Heritage supported the application
but the 20th Century Society objected. (Some of the tiles date from the
1920s.)

English Heritage are right and the 20th Century Society (whoever they
are, I've never even heard of them before) are wrong. The original
design intent wasn't to have 80-year-old tiles looking terrible, and
you just have to have looked at the difference between Queensway and
Lancaster Gate to see the difference retiling can make.

Now that doesn't mean the responsible person in LUL shouldn't be
punished for violation of listed building regulations, but I'm
surprised that the committee felt a site visit was necessary. It's a
no-brainer to me.

--
James Farrar
. @gmail.com