Architect’s ‘iconic’ art deco house under threat of demolition

An art deco house in Rhos on Sea, intended by a renowned Welsh architect, is underneath risk of getting demolished and changed with flats and a carpark.

Considerations have been elevated about options submitted by Builders Business Development Administration who want to knock down the home on the corner of Marine Travel and College or university Avenue and substitute it with 5 residences and automobile parking.

The property which was constructed in 1939 by Sidney Colwyn Foulkes, holds a commanding posture on the sea front with spectacular views.

It has been variously reconfigured above the decades as a residence and flats, but the façade is in the iconic artwork deco style.

Residents are worried about the strategies, with one particular Facebook article noting the house’s history and the point that it is listed on Coflein, the National Monuments History for Wales, which means it is a “non-specified heritage asset” which could have a “degree of significance meriting thing to consider in scheduling decisions”.

A further resident commented: “Again a building that is so precious to the record of the spot. If I remember the Foulkes family members have a name in the space that this constructing could celebrate the affect of this builder. Please imagine again”.

Options have been submitted to Conwy County Council and are said to be at an early stage in the session approach, but it has been observed that the dwelling may perhaps be of architectural interest.

The case officer dealing with the application was urged to look at whether or not the building will come less than council procedures, which shield neighborhood structures of worth in the place.

Meticulous

Born and elevated in Colwyn Bay, Foulkes received a scholarship to examine architecture at the University of Liverpool just after drawing up programs for what grew to become The Cosy Cinema on a former horse stable internet site in Colwyn Bay.

He went on to gain a commission to layout the Rhos Playhouse, the Arcadia Theatre and numerous war memorials such as the Obelisk at Llandudno.

He was involved in the layout of far more theatres and playhouses across North Wales as properly as hospitals and housing estates.

Foulkes and his wife Daisy Charney had 5 kids. Their son Ralph also turned an architect, and his wife, Elizabeth Colwyn Foulkes been given an MBE for her architectural perform.

Awarded the Liberty of the Borough in 1966 by Conwy Council, Foulkes was a member of the Council for the Defense of Rural Wales and of the Historic Structures council for Wales.

Clough Williams-Ellis the architect and designer of Portmeirion, commented on Foulkes in his autobiography: “…his sense of history and meticulous treatment for apt supplies and correct detailing established a regular that has not been with out its impact in boosting all those of other folks fewer delicate than himself”.

When Foulkes died in 1971 Williams-Ellis wrote: “Whenever I could, I would just take distinguished going to architects and critics (Frank Lloyd Wright and Lewis Mumford amongst them) to see the two him and examples of his function – sure of their warm acceptance and admiration of both equally, in assistance of my personal.”