Riverside scheme part of PLP’s £2bn Bankside Yards development
Make’s plans for an 18-storey office tower on the south side of Blackfriars bridge were unanimously approved by Southwark council yesterday evening.
The block will contain around 8,000sq m of work space on land formerly occupied by an office which was opened by Margaret Thatcher in 1989 and housed offices for the Daily Express.
It is part of the £2bn Bankside Yards development master planned by PLP for Native Land, approved in 2014, which will contain eight new buildings up to 50-storeys in height.
The wider scheme will be part of an emerging cluster of tall buildings on the south side of Blackfriars bridge which includes Simpson Haugh’s One Blackfriars. Foster & Partners have also unveiled plans for a 200m mixed-use tower in the neighbourhood.
Make’s 75m-tall block replaces plans by PLP which were approved in 2014 for a 14-storey residential building of luxury apartments on the site.
The team working on the job also includes project manager Gardiner & Theobald, planning consultant DP9, landscape architect Gillespies, QS Core5, structural engineer AKT II, sustainability and services consultant Sweco and Tavernor Consultancy on townscape.
Southwark’s planning officer said the architecture on the scheme was “exceptional” and said it would not impact of the setting of any nearby heritage assets, which include the adjacent 1869 Blackfriars Road bridge.
The officer added the block would form an “engaging local landmark” with its moderate height acting as a transition between the riverfront and the cluster of taller buildings further south.
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