Highbury Square is an apartment complex in

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

, London. It is a redevelopment of the old

Highbury Stadium Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nickname ...

site, the home stadium of Arsenal F.C. until 2006 when they moved to the newly built

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

nearby.

History

The venue was the home of Arsenal for 93 years until 2006, when the club moved to Emirates Stadium. Arsenal moved to Highbury from Woolwich in 1913 and Highbury's first stands were designed by

Archibald Leitch Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Early work Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing tea ...

. The main East and West stands were rebuilt in the 1930s in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. Their façades remain in the present development.

Redevelopment

The North Bank and Clock End were demolished while the older Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s of the East and West Stands remained as part of the development. The pitch was redeveloped into gardens. Several parts of Arsenal Stadium were retained including the marble halls, the bust of

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

and the players' tunnel. It was opened officially in 2009, by Arsenal manager

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

. Designed by

Allies and Morrison Allies and Morrison LLP is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London and Cambridge. Founded in 1984, the practice is now one of Britain's largest architectural firms. The practice's work ranges from architecture and interio ...

, the renovation of the complex has been praised by critics for creating "a feeling of openness and nature" while also providing "protection and privacy". In 2009, Highbury Square's design won the

MIPIM MIPIM (in French, Le Marché International des Professionnels de L’immobilier) is an international property event hosted in Cannes, France, each March. It is hosted by Reed MIDEM and includes an exhibition area, networking events and conference ...

Special Jury Award.

Characterisation

Highbury Square has 650 flats, which have a relatively high

ground rent As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of ...

and many communal services (a higher-income centred service charge). The square has a public footpath through it and any public approach way, though little open to the sky, means it is arguably considered rather than a green court/courtyard, a

garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. ...

- the path was briefly forestalled for better drainage to be made. In 2009, Arsenal sold 150 to London & Stamford Property at a 20% discount to brochure asking price as dozens of "buyers" (the word is used loosely in this context) failed to exchange contracts (or complete). Arsenal cleared their conversion bill by 2010.

Sustainable Design

The developments design incorporated some of the most up to date thinking to reduce carbon emissions, including the largest solar thermal heating installation of its type in Europe at the time of its construction together with combined heat and power (CHP) plant feeding into a district heating system which serves the whole development.

References

{{Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Arsenal F.C. Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Islington Apartment buildings in London Highbury Squares in the London Borough of Islington