15 Clerkenwell Close

15 Clerkenwell Close is a building in Islington, London, designed by architect Amin Taha with structural engineer Webb Yates Engineers, completed in 2017. The building's stone façade was controversial when it appeared, as it had not been fully detailed in the building's planning documents. Islington Council called for the building's demolition, but this was overturned on appeal. The building won a RIBA National Award in 2018 and was one of six buildings shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2021. The building is highly innovative, using the first construction of a multi-level trabeated system of end-shaped, rusticated massive-precut stone blocks.

Taha originally proposed a building with a bronze façade in 2012. Taha then replaced this design with one utilising bricks before settling on stone. During construction, Islington council indicated that the brick façade was the chosen one on its website, apparently due to an error. The council had received and approved designs for the stone façade, but because they were never placed online for the public to see, the final façade was a surprise to neighbours. Islington Council issued a ruling that the building be demolished in mid-2017 due to the error, which the council withdrew after an inquiry from a legal team employed by Taha. After rescinding the first order to demolish the structure, the council issued a second in February 2018, following "an investigation" that determined the building's final design differed from the approved design. This order cited the location of the fossils within the stone façade as "[...] deleterious to the conservation area and listed buildings" due to their "haphazard" placement. In August 2019, Taha's appeal was successful and the council's planning office granted planning permission, ruling that the building "accords with the generality of what had previously been approved" and removed the demolition order. Taha lives on the top floor of the building with his family, and the building houses the offices of his architectural practice Groupwork.

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