New 17-storey scheme retains Richard MacCormac ticket hall
Plans for a 17-storey tower above Southwark Tube station designed by AHMM have been revealed.
The images come two years after plans to bulldoze Richard MacCormac’s celebrated ticket hall in favour of a 30-storey scheme – also designed by AHMM – were knocked back.
MacCormac designed the station to be able to support a future structure – but only one of up to 18 storeys.
The new proposals include a mixture of commercial and retail space, with the massing stepping down at the back with a series of planted terraces overlooking The Cut.
The previous 2017 scheme was a residential tower. That design was met with anger from conservationists who fought in vain to list the 1999 station. Part of the Jubilee line extension (JLE) masterminded by TfL’s chief architect Roland Paoletti, it was MacCormac Jamieson Prichard’s (MJP) first public commission.
A move by Transport for London (TfL) to acquire the land from developer U&I saved the ticket hall after TfL bosses acknowledged the importance of their own heritage.
The JLE, the UK’s most significant infrastructure project of the later 20th century, was hailed by the Royal Fine Arts Commission (Cabe’s predecessor) in 1992 as: “An example of patronage at its best and most enlightened.”
The latest iteration of the scheme follows feedback from an initial public consultation held earlier this year that there was a need for a community hub and a focal point “in order for Southwark to be recognised as a vibrant destination”.
The proposals will also incorporate affordable office space, which could be used by local or small businesses, while also improving pedestrian access to the existing independent businesses in the surrounding area.
>> Also read: MacCormac’s Southwark Tube station set for wrecker’s ball
>> Also read: Plans to destroy MJP’s Southwark station fall through
TfL’s public consultation on the scheme will run until November 26, with the public able to register their views onlineor at consultation events on October 17 and 19.
Last year TfL revealed plans for a new Acanthus LW-designed entrance at the back of Southwark station, which it said would ensure the station was able to manage any future increases in passenger numbers and relieve pressure on the existing entrance.
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