Images of the transformation of the Shell Centre Campus, which include 8 towers to be designed by six different architects in London's South Bank, have been released and submitted for approval by the local authority, Lambeth Council.
The project, under a Masterplan by Squire and Partners and co-developed by Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar, is a 5.25-acre mixed-use scheme between Waterloo Station and Hungerford Bridge. While the famous 27-story Shell Tower will be preserved, the plans show eight new residential and office buildings will be constructed by six architectural firms: an office and two residential towers by Squire and Partners, one office tower by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF); a residential block by Patel Taylor; another by Stanton Williams; and two more residential towers by GRID Architecture.
In total, about 800,000 sq ft of office space, 800,000 sq ft of residential space (translating to 790 new homes, including affordable housing), and 80,000 sq ft of new retail units/restaurants/cafés will be created. As Michael Squire of Squire and Partners told The Architect's Journal: "We make no apology, this is a dense development, it sits next to one of the busiest train stations in Europe. This is a massive sustainable move that will allow people to live and work in the same area."
More on the proposed plan for London's South Bank, after the break...
Moreover, Townshend Landscape Architects will take over sculpting of the public realm; while the current podium at the Chicheley Street end of the site will be lost, a new public square in the centre of the campus, a new pedestrian route, and a widened Chicheley Street will increase public space.
The Canary Wharf Press Release also notes that the proposals include a "highly efficient energy centre which will reduce the carbon footprint of the site. The system will be designed to interconnect with a district heating network being explored for the wider South Bank area."
According to Eng. Mohammed bin Ali Al Hedfa, the chief executive officer of the Qatari Diar Group: "Our aim is to enhance an area in need of a renaissance, with a new mixed use development of which London can be truly proud. We are confident that our proposed development will put a reinvigorated South Bank at its rightful place, at the capital's heart."
The plans will now make their way for approval at City Hall, where, according to London SE1, they are likely to face close scrutiny, since the towers will be visible from the Westminster World Heritage Site.
Should approval be given, the development will begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed in 2019.
Story via Canary Wharf and Building.co.uk
