River Park House, High Road / Station Road, N22

Image: © Mike Quinn Taken: 18 Jan 2017

Exquisitely named (there's neither a park nor a river in the vicinity) this rectilinear steel and reflective glass monstrosity on giant stilts, situated on the opposite side of the road from the superb Image, is a hideous example of the late 20th C "f*ck you" style. To rub salt into the wounds, it involved the demolition of the magnificent old Wood Green Library in the early 1970s. It must rank high on the list of buildings that should never have been built. Which enlightened Planning Department gave the required permission you may ask? Answer: Haringey Council. Who occupies the building? [I suspect that you're ahead of me here.] Yes, it's the main offices of ... Haringey Council. The Wood Green Audit http://hfra.wikispaces.com/planning+-+Local+Issues+-+Wood+Green+Audit [Part 2, Section 10] says that this "dingy depressing monolith [is] many people’s candidate for the worst 20th Century building in Haringey". And that "a culture of developer-led philistinism seems to determine Council attitudes to local heritage" https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/22117868375 .

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