Angel on top of the tree
Not long ago, if you followed Regent?s Canal eastwards from the pretty Georgian and Victorian terraces of the Angel in Islington, you?d find yourself in something of an industrial backwater.
That?s not the case any more. Today, the wedge of land between the canal and City Road, though still gritty, is fast becoming a hip new neighbourhood as old factories and wharfs are converted into flats or demolished to make way for stylish new homes.
Much of this activity is concentrated around the City Road and Wenlock canal basins. Previously hemmed in the neglected, these stretches of water are experiencing a renaissance as tranquil residential havens within walking distance of the City.
Until recently, development was rather piecemeal, but planners recognised the strategic importance of this waterside location midway between Islington and Shoreditch and have now adopted a masterplan for City Road Basin.
Once an important commercial link in London?s canal network, the basin will be opened up to the public for the first time through a mixed-use scheme with 900 homes, retail and leisure facilities.
The plan is for two towers of 28 and 35 storeys at the southern end, with six-storey terraces along the sides. More green space will be created and the Islington Boat Club on the basin will be expanded.
Two upmarket developments near the lock at the mount of the basin have set the scent for the area?s revamp. Angel Waterside a scheme of 57 flats by developer Grove Manor ? won a mail on Sunday National Home Builder Design Award and was completed at the end of 2003. Prices for the remaining homes start at ?395,500 for two bedrooms, rising to ?995,000 for the penthouse.
Across the road in Angelis, a six storey development of 45 high spec flats popular with upwardly mobile young professionals. Residents have use of two communal roof terrace, an in-house screening room and gym. Developer Goldcrest recently launched the ?1.9 million penthouse with Islington?s largest roof terrace.
City solicitors and first-time buyer Helen Adair, 26 who recently moved into Angelis, originally bought a one-bedroom flat but has since upgraded to two bedrooms and her original flat is for sale.
?This area is really well connected and I like the friendly mix of young people,? she says. ?It?s an easy 20-minute walk to work, plus you have all the shops, bars and restaurants of Islington on the doorstep, without being right in the middle of everything.?
Despite the pace of regeneration in this corner of N1, it was only about seven years ago that developers first made inroads into what they now refer to as Regent?s Canal Quarter.
One of the earliest schemes was the conversion of Royle House ? a former printworks on Wenlock basin ? into almost 100 flats.
Round the corner, the Canal Building ? an Art Deco warehouse ? was sold as 79 shells, and later developer Persimmon Homes built its Union Wharf scheme of lofts and live/work units on the basin.
More flats are not coming onto the market. Telford Homes is building Estilo ? a mixed-use development of 43 one, two and three-bedroom units overlooking Wenlock Basin. Due for completion in autumn 2006, prices start at ?233,500 for one-bedroom flats.
At Micawber Street, another development of 18 studios, flats and live work/units ranging from ?200,000 to ?500,000, is underway.
Towards Old Street, Goldcrest is building 18 two-bedroom live/work duplexes and another 14 flats at Britannia Walk. Like Angelis, the scheme has the added perks of a screening room, gym, concierge and roof terrace. Prices range from ?350,000 to ?800,000.
Arty connections and old pubs add atmosphere to these water-ways. The canalside Holdborn Studios, with a caf? and moorings for narrowboats, is a popular base for photographers, while the nearby Narrowboat pub has been given a face-lift.
In a converted wharf just off Wenlcok Basin, the Victoria Miro art gallery hosts exhibitions by the likes of Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry.
Other new schemes are going up north and west of the Angel. Just off Liverpool Road, Emblem Homes? development A+ is converting the Grade II Angel School and house into 45 apartment, with 12 additional new-build flats and four townhouses. Prices there start at ?200,000 for a one-bedroom flat.
At Islington Green, Grove Manor Homes is selling the final phase of its 84-flat Angel on the Green development. The 16 one, two and three-bedroom flats start at ?315,000.
For Andrew and Emma Smith, both 26, who moved to Angel Waterside nearly a year ago, the combination of accessibility and an interesting neighbourhood has proved irresistible. It takes Andrew, a City solicitor, five minutes to get to work on a moped, while Emma, a hospital doctor, drives to North London.
?There is quite a settled sense of community here and lots to do on Upper Street,? says Andrew. ?Living next to the water is great. You get the sun reflecting off it in the morning and, at night, you can hear the water running over the weir and it?s hard to believe you?re in the middle of town.
Not long ago, if you followed Regent?s Canal eastwards from the pretty Georgian and Victorian terraces of the Angel in Islington, you?d find yourself in something of an industrial backwater.
That?s not the case any more. Today, the wedge of land between the canal and City Road, though still gritty, is fast becoming a hip new neighbourhood as old factories and wharfs are converted into flats or demolished to make way for stylish new homes.
Much of this activity is concentrated around the City Road and Wenlock canal basins. Previously hemmed in the neglected, these stretches of water are experiencing a renaissance as tranquil residential havens within walking distance of the City.
Until recently, development was rather piecemeal, but planners recognised the strategic importance of this waterside location midway between Islington and Shoreditch and have now adopted a masterplan for City Road Basin.
Once an important commercial link in London?s canal network, the basin will be opened up to the public for the first time through a mixed-use scheme with 900 homes, retail and leisure facilities.
The plan is for two towers of 28 and 35 storeys at the southern end, with six-storey terraces along the sides. More green space will be created and the Islington Boat Club on the basin will be expanded.
Two upmarket developments near the lock at the mount of the basin have set the scent for the area?s revamp. Angel Waterside a scheme of 57 flats by developer Grove Manor ? won a mail on Sunday National Home Builder Design Award and was completed at the end of 2003. Prices for the remaining homes start at ?395,500 for two bedrooms, rising to ?995,000 for the penthouse.
Across the road in Angelis, a six storey development of 45 high spec flats popular with upwardly mobile young professionals. Residents have use of two communal roof terrace, an in-house screening room and gym. Developer Goldcrest recently launched the ?1.9 million penthouse with Islington?s largest roof terrace.
City solicitors and first-time buyer Helen Adair, 26 who recently moved into Angelis, originally bought a one-bedroom flat but has since upgraded to two bedrooms and her original flat is for sale.
?This area is really well connected and I like the friendly mix of young people,? she says. ?It?s an easy 20-minute walk to work, plus you have all the shops, bars and restaurants of Islington on the doorstep, without being right in the middle of everything.?
Despite the pace of regeneration in this corner of N1, it was only about seven years ago that developers first made inroads into what they now refer to as Regent?s Canal Quarter.
One of the earliest schemes was the conversion of Royle House ? a former printworks on Wenlock basin ? into almost 100 flats.
Round the corner, the Canal Building ? an Art Deco warehouse ? was sold as 79 shells, and later developer Persimmon Homes built its Union Wharf scheme of lofts and live/work units on the basin.
More flats are not coming onto the market. Telford Homes is building Estilo ? a mixed-use development of 43 one, two and three-bedroom units overlooking Wenlock Basin. Due for completion in autumn 2006, prices start at ?233,500 for one-bedroom flats.
At Micawber Street, another development of 18 studios, flats and live work/units ranging from ?200,000 to ?500,000, is underway.
Towards Old Street, Goldcrest is building 18 two-bedroom live/work duplexes and another 14 flats at Britannia Walk. Like Angelis, the scheme has the added perks of a screening room, gym, concierge and roof terrace. Prices range from ?350,000 to ?800,000.
Arty connections and old pubs add atmosphere to these water-ways. The canalside Holdborn Studios, with a caf? and moorings for narrowboats, is a popular base for photographers, while the nearby Narrowboat pub has been given a face-lift.
In a converted wharf just off Wenlcok Basin, the Victoria Miro art gallery hosts exhibitions by the likes of Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry.
Other new schemes are going up north and west of the Angel. Just off Liverpool Road, Emblem Homes? development A+ is converting the Grade II Angel School and house into 45 apartment, with 12 additional new-build flats and four townhouses. Prices there start at ?200,000 for a one-bedroom flat.
At Islington Green, Grove Manor Homes is selling the final phase of its 84-flat Angel on the Green development. The 16 one, two and three-bedroom flats start at ?315,000.
For Andrew and Emma Smith, both 26, who moved to Angel Waterside nearly a year ago, the combination of accessibility and an interesting neighbourhood has proved irresistible. It takes Andrew, a City solicitor, five minutes to get to work on a moped, while Emma, a hospital doctor, drives to North London.
?There is quite a settled sense of community here and lots to do on Upper Street,? says Andrew. ?Living next to the water is great. You get the sun reflecting off it in the morning and, at night, you can hear the water running over the weir and it?s hard to believe you?re in the middle of town.
Not long ago, if you followed Regent?s Canal eastwards from the pretty Georgian and Victorian terraces of the Angel in Islington, you?d find yourself in something of an industrial backwater.
That?s not the case any more. Today, the wedge of land between the canal and City Road, though still gritty, is fast becoming a hip new neighbourhood as old factories and wharfs are converted into flats or demolished to make way for stylish new homes.
Much of this activity is concentrated around the City Road and Wenlock canal basins. Previously hemmed in the neglected, these stretches of water are experiencing a renaissance as tranquil residential havens within walking distance of the City.
Until recently, development was rather piecemeal, but planners recognised the strategic importance of this waterside location midway between Islington and Shoreditch and have now adopted a masterplan for City Road Basin.
Once an important commercial link in London?s canal network, the basin will be opened up to the public for the first time through a mixed-use scheme with 900 homes, retail and leisure facilities.
The plan is for two towers of 28 and 35 storeys at the southern end, with six-storey terraces along the sides. More green space will be created and the Islington Boat Club on the basin will be expanded.
Two upmarket developments near the lock at the mount of the basin have set the scent for the area?s revamp. Angel Waterside a scheme of 57 flats by developer Grove Manor ? won a mail on Sunday National Home Builder Design Award and was completed at the end of 2003. Prices for the remaining homes start at ?395,500 for two bedrooms, rising to ?995,000 for the penthouse.
Across the road in Angelis, a six storey development of 45 high spec flats popular with upwardly mobile young professionals. Residents have use of two communal roof terrace, an in-house screening room and gym. Developer Goldcrest recently launched the ?1.9 million penthouse with Islington?s largest roof terrace.
City solicitors and first-time buyer Helen Adair, 26 who recently moved into Angelis, originally bought a one-bedroom flat but has since upgraded to two bedrooms and her original flat is for sale.
?This area is really well connected and I like the friendly mix of young people,? she says. ?It?s an easy 20-minute walk to work, plus you have all the shops, bars and restaurants of Islington on the doorstep, without being right in the middle of everything.?
Despite the pace of regeneration in this corner of N1, it was only about seven years ago that developers first made inroads into what they now refer to as Regent?s Canal Quarter.
One of the earliest schemes was the conversion of Royle House ? a former printworks on Wenlock basin ? into almost 100 flats.
Round the corner, the Canal Building ? an Art Deco warehouse ? was sold as 79 shells, and later developer Persimmon Homes built its Union Wharf scheme of lofts and live/work units on the basin.
More flats are not coming onto the market. Telford Homes is building Estilo ? a mixed-use development of 43 one, two and three-bedroom units overlooking Wenlock Basin. Due for completion in autumn 2006, prices start at ?233,500 for one-bedroom flats.
At Micawber Street, another development of 18 studios, flats and live work/units ranging from ?200,000 to ?500,000, is underway.
Towards Old Street, Goldcrest is building 18 two-bedroom live/work duplexes and another 14 flats at Britannia Walk. Like Angelis, the scheme has the added perks of a screening room, gym, concierge and roof terrace. Prices range from ?350,000 to ?800,000.
Arty connections and old pubs add atmosphere to these water-ways. The canalside Holdborn Studios, with a caf? and moorings for narrowboats, is a popular base for photographers, while the nearby Narrowboat pub has been given a face-lift.
In a converted wharf just off Wenlcok Basin, the Victoria Miro art gallery hosts exhibitions by the likes of Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry.
Other new schemes are going up north and west of the Angel. Just off Liverpool Road, Emblem Homes? development A+ is converting the Grade II Angel School and house into 45 apartment, with 12 additional new-build flats and four townhouses. Prices there start at ?200,000 for a one-bedroom flat.
At Islington Green, Grove Manor Homes is selling the final phase of its 84-flat Angel on the Green development. The 16 one, two and three-bedroom flats start at ?315,000.
For Andrew and Emma Smith, both 26, who moved to Angel Waterside nearly a year ago, the combination of accessibility and an interesting neighbourhood has proved irresistible. It takes Andrew, a City solicitor, five minutes to get to work on a moped, while Emma, a hospital doctor, drives to North London.
?There is quite a settled sense of community here and lots to do on Upper Street,? says Andrew. ?Living next to the water is great. You get the sun reflecting off it in the morning and, at night, you can hear the water running over the weir and it?s hard to believe you?re in the middle of town.
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