Medina House
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Medina House is a building located on the seafront of Hove, Sussex, England, and was a squat for several years. During this period the property owner, Sirus Taghan, agreed that the occupants could remain, so long as the property was kept in the same condition as before occupation. It was finally evicted in September 2006, although it was re-occupied for a week at the end of January 2007.
On the 16th October 2006 a local newspaper published an article regarding Mr Taghan's plans to re-develop Medina House. As reported, the new tower block, designed by architects to resemble a stack of toppling plates, would stand 100ft tall (35m), be up to 12 storeys and house about 25 flats, should planning permission be approved. Neighbours of Medina House have voiced their concerns regarding the new 'Sirus Tower' regarding lighting issues, along with other locals to the area being concerned that building the "bizzare" tower will lead to many more odd development proposals along the Brighton and Hove seafront. Such locals believe the seafront is in danger of becoming a 'mish-mash' of buildings which do not in any way fit their surroundings.
Previous to the current proposals there were plans in 2002 for the building, bought by Mr Taghan in the Nineties, to have been developed into an 18-storey tower. However he withdrew the plans for development after they had caused controversy amougst local campaigners who complained about it's height. Subsequently he planned a smaller 15 or 16-storey tower but never put in a formal planning application.
There are also serious concerns about the wind funneling effects of increasing the height of the building. Sussex Road already suffers from increased wind speeds due to the prevailing south westerly wind being trapped by the existing building. Data obtained from the Buildings Research Institute indicates that there is an exponential increase in wind effects with each additional storey adding significantly to wind speeds. With measured wind speeds in Sussex road already reaching in excess of 50 mph on occasions, and the large number of elderly residents in Bath Court, it seems doubtful whether any application for a higher builder would pass mandatory wind effect conditions imposed by the planning application.
In early 2007 there was a report in the Brighton and Hove Leader newspaper about plans to convert the building into a community arts centre. This plan has the support of the local community and add a valuable resource to this characterful part of the sea-front, however details of this venture are not available.
