Grid Architects’ proposals to redevelop a disused Victorian hospital complex in east London as a 291-home residential development have been given a clean bill of health by planning officers.

But the much-reworked scheme for the grade II-listed London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green is still being opposed by conservation group the Victorian Society and hundreds of local residents who are concerned about the heritage impact of the plans and the loss of trees at the 1.61ha site.

Grid’s proposals for the hospital, near Victoria Park, involve the demolition of all but the building’s original 1850s block, which will be converted into 50 apartments, and the 1892 Sanitation Tower. The remaining new homes would be delivered in three new blocks of up to eight storeys in the hospital grounds.

…