They have been building a new Travelodge nearly next door to us all through lockdown, even in spite of reading that the company itself is in administration. They have just taken the scaffolding down and to our amazement, it is a perfectly respectable building, much superior to Topps Tiles which it replaced, brick clad, maintaining the street frontage and showing how it is possible to maintain the character of the existing surroundings, helped by the fact that Spitalfields Trust gave advice on the detailing. I cynically thought that the so-called community consultation was mere window dressing to get it through planning, but they do seem to have paid attention to what was requested:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
What is really nice is that people will book their cut price stay (I have been a big user of Premier Inns and Travelodges) and then chance upon the beauty of your house next door. Bet there will be lots of people taking photos to share with their friends and families back home.
Interesting that brown window frames and panels are back. Last sighted widely in c.1980, then displaced by universal and equally dismal dark grey. What shapes these fashions?
Hard to know, other than good advice from the Spitalfields Trust. Charles
sorry to hear there was no peace for you during lockdown
I like the brick section & the angled frontage. I just wish they hadn’t greedily added the top storey, which causes the line of the building to jump above the neighbouring buildings. Better than expected, though
Yes, but the top storey is comparatively reticent and set back in order to preserve the street frontage, so could have been far, far worse. Charles