Founders Building Architect’s Cottage To Be Demolished
The cottage of William Crossland, architect of Royal Holloway’s iconic Founders Building, is set to be demolished in order to make room to build the new library. Opponents of the demolition say that the cottage, which currently houses the Santander branch, and is situated next to the college shop and laundry, is notionally protected by the grade I listing of Founders through ‘curtilage’ protection. Furthermore, the Victorian Society’s conservation advisor, Sarah Caradec, claims that the cottage is “an unusual survival of an architect’s home on site.” Opponents further claim that the College deliberately has left the cottage to deteriorate to justify demolition.
However, both the Runnymede borough council and English Heritage agree that the structure has always been intended to be tempor...