Fosters’ London HQ facing new Farrells’ designed high-rise neighbour

Foster & Partners’ Battersea headquarters could soon gain a new high-rise neighbour in the shape of a 38-storey tower designed by Farrells.

Terry Farrell’s practice has tabled plans for a mixed-use scheme at 1 Battersea Bridge Road which would be up to 28 storeys taller than Norman Foster’s base and Albion House, the Foster & Partners-designed scheme next door.

Farrells’ plans for the Glassmill site, designed for developer Promontoria Battersea Ltd, would replace a six-storey office block built in the early 1980s.

The new riverside tower at the southern end of Battersea Bridge would be residential-led, containing up to 170 homes, 35% of which would be affordable.

Promontoria Battersea ran a consultation on the scheme last October and has now submitted technical documents outlining its plans for the site ahead of the submission of a full planning application.

The developer said it wants to create a “landmark building and a new cornerstone” for the neighbourhood, improve the area’s public realm and enhance the Thames Path.

The building could also contain up to 8,000 sq ft of office space, new landscaping and a 10% uplift in biodiversity.

Images of the scheme show a series of wide arches along Battersea Bridge Road fronting the base of the building, which would be curved at its northern end facing the river.

The project team so far include landscape architect Exterior Architecture, planning consultant DP9, environmental consultant Temple, transport consultant Velocity, heritage consultant Montagu Evans, energy consultant Ridge and daylight consultant GIA.

Foster & Partners has been based at its nearby office since 1990, and completed Albion Gardens, a high-end residential scheme, in 2003.