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Ealing's Art Deco Gem To Be Demolished

Today's 'they're destroying our heritage' news comes from West Ealing, where a distinctive art deco building is destined for annihilation.

The former Woolworth's store at 96-102 Broadway dates from 1926 and has been described as 'just as handsome as those in Oxford Street or Kensington High Street’.

We learn from Ealing Today that the structure will be sacrificed to build a new residential complex of 120 flats by A2Dominion. The planning application was recently approved by Ealing Council despite over 300 written objections.

View from 2008, via Google Street View.

In our mind *every* art deco building should be saved for posterity, or at least have its facade preserved. The style is universally adored. London is impoverished every time one of these buildings hits the dust.

No doubt, there would be technical challenges in converting or part-retaining the existing structure, but surely a block of flats in art deco style would be more lucrative for a developer than yet another generic mid-rise apartment block.

The shape of things to come. Drawing by Red and White Design.

For more on the fate of former Woolworths buildings, see this excellent roundup by Diamond Geezer.