Government of Jersey

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A decision made 20 September 2010 regarding: Jersey Airport - Notice of intent to list as site of special interest.

Decision Ref:	MD–PE–2010-0094
Subject:	Notice of Intent to List as Site of Special Interest: Jersey Airport (1937), L’Avenue de la Reine Elizabeth II, St Peter
Address and Reference Number	Jersey Airport (1937), L’Avenue de la Reine Elizabeth II, St Peter	Historic Building Reference:	PE0234
DS Author:	Assistant Director
DS Date:	17 September 2010	DS Status:	Public
Written Report Title:	WR – List of Sites of Special Interest: Jersey Airport (1937), L’Avenue de la Reine Elizabeth II, St Peter
WR Author:	Head of Historic Buildings, Jersey Heritage
WR Date	17 August 2010	WR Status:	Public
Decision(s):	The Minister for Planning and Environment resolved to serve a notice of his intent to add the building and place specified above to the List of Sites of Special Interest.
Reason(s) for Decision:	1. the special interest of the building and place specified above, as defined and in the schedule and relative to the published criteria for selection, justifies its inclusion on the List of Sites of Special Interest in accordance with the provisions and purposes of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002, as assessed by the Head of Historic Buildings at Jersey Heritage and the Ministerial Registration and Listing Advisory Group and; 2. it accords with the States Strategic Plan commitment of protecting and enhancing the Island’s built heritage assets.
Legal and Resource Implications:	Article 51(2)(b) of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 enables the Minister to include on the List of Sites of Special Interest those buildings and places that the Minister is satisfied has public importance by reason of the special archaeological, architectural, artistic, historical, scientific or traditional interest that attaches to the building or place. Article 52 of the same Law requires the Minister to serve notice of his intention to do so;
Action required:	Serve notice of intent to add the building and place specified above to the List of Sites of Special Interest
Signature:
Position:	Senator FE Cohen, Minister for Planning and Environment
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different to Date Signed):

Jersey Airport - Notice of intent to list as site of special interest

List of Sites of Special Interest

Jersey Airport (1937) , L'Avenue de la Reine Elizabeth II, St. Peter

This report has been prepared by Jersey Heritage as part of its responsibility under a Service Level Agreement to provide reports and recommendations to the Minister for Planning and Environment on the architectural, historical and archaeological significance of buildings and sites.

The assessment and recommendation are made in accordance with Article 51 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law, 2002; Policy G11 of the Jersey Island Plan, 2002; and criteria for the identification and designation of historic buildings in SPG Practice Note 9, 2008. The report includes the views and advice offered by the Ministerial Registration and Listing Advisory Group.

Author of report: Roger Hills BA(Hons) MA DipBldgCons (RICS) IHBC Head of Historic Buildings

Date of report: 17 August 2010

File ref: PE0234

Current status

Not registered or listed.

Summary of interest (see attached SSI schedule & report)

Jersey airport terminal was erected in 1936-7 to designs by Norman and Dawbarn of London, revised from earlier proposals of 1934.

Airports are a building type unique to the twentieth century that defines its history and culture as no other. Some forty local airports had been built in the British Isles by 1939 but only a few airport buildings from this pioneering era of flight survive, including Jersey Airport - giving the building greater importance and rarity value.

The 1937 terminal with its bold crest and date is the first building seen by most visitors to Jersey. It is an indication of the wealth of good quality buildings that survive on the island from the inter-war years, when air travel played a part in the island’s expansion as a commercial and tourist centre. It continues to be a mainstay of the island’s culture and economy today, and one of its best-known, perhaps even emblematic buildings.

The Chamber of Commerce first discussed building a land airport in 1930, and in 1932 looked at a number of sites, including that near St Peter’s Barracks which was eventually chosen. The proposal was put to the States in 1933, making the airport one of the earliest to be funded by local government in Britain; the first was Manchester (Ringway), opened in 1930.

Norman and Dawbarn produced a report and proposals for the new airport in October 1934. The terminal was sited to allow flights to take off in all directions, as in the days before a macadamed runway wind direction was all important. The terminal building was planned principally for administration and as a control centre, with facilities for passengers in the single-storey wings and viewing platforms for visitors above.

Jersey Airport’s principal 1937 features are clearly intelligible – its overall plan form of a central block with low wings, the high entrance hall space, staircases and a striking façade on the land side.

The land-side façade survives well, to three storeys topped by a heavy cornice. The building has a steel frame clad in concrete blocks and with detailing of in-situ reinforced concrete, or so it appears from comparing the 1934 report with the actual building. The concrete has a thick pebble aggregate and appears in good condition. A few 1930s steel windows survive, mainly to the sides, with horizontal glazing bars that give a strong banding to the design, and with distinctively large, curved metal window catches. On the south side survives a tall chimney, which adds a vertical accent to an otherwise strongly horizontal composition. On the air side, fragments of the outer wall (which originally had inset balconies so there are confusingly two lines of walling) can be partly traced up the building, notably with the survival of the cornice above the third floor and (it is said) fragments of a crest concealed behind later panelling.

Less survives of the single-storey three-bay wings built to either side, although the roof, clerestories and curved ends are evident. The roof is supported on trusses, which may have been renewed at lower levels. Inside, the main entrance hall survives to give a sense of its original grandeur – still making an imposing arrival point for visitors and retaining its staircase. Above, only some of the smaller office spaces are definable, mainly by their original wood block flooring and doorways. The key features survive, therefore, in the main façade and central interior space – always the most important elements designed to impress the passenger, as well as a sense of the building’s overall plan with its central block and bird-like (or airplane-like) wings.

After the war Jersey established itself as a major destination, and for a time the airport became the second busiest in Britain. The terminal facilities were updated in 1947, when Norman and Dawbarn were again the consultants, and many times subsequently. The nearby hangar, for Jersey Airlines, was designed in 1956, in an era where the runway was progressively tarmaced and extended. A new departures hall was built in 1965, and in 1968-70 additions were made to the wings, including a new restaurant and bar. Far greater additions were made in 1975-7 with a new passenger pier and fourteen gates and immigration facilities. More additions followed in 1995-6. None of the additions are of special interest, and indeed their removal would allow the original structure to become more intelligible and attractive.

Advice offered by MRLAG (and others if stated)

MRLAG discussed the building at its meeting on 16 August 2010. Members endorsed the Harwood / Price report and were unanimous that the surviving 1937 Jersey Airport should be listed as a Site of Special Interest.

Jersey Heritage recommendation

The surviving 1937 Jersey Airport should be listed as a Site of Special Interest as set out on the attached schedule and plan.

Justification relating to criteria

The listing of the surviving 1937 Jersey Airport as an SSI is in accordance with the existing criteria for assessment and designation of historic buildings: the building’s special interest extends substantially to its authentic fabric, plan form and interior features; the building is of special interest for its architectural design and composition; and the building is illustrative of significant aspects of Jersey’s social, economic and cultural history.