Weekly planning news from the central London boroughs

Camden

Architects Journal reports that Alison Brooks has won over Camden councillors with her ‘bold’ designs for a controversial house in Hampstead, despite neighbours’ opposition to its green façade. Camden councillors voted six to three in favour of the practice’s plans to replace an ‘unremarkable’ 1960s house in Frognal Gardens with the green-tiled scheme. A Camden Council spokesperson said: ‘The planning committee supported this application, which presents the opportunity to replace a dated property with a bold, contemporary and sustainable home which will make a positive contribute to the conservation area.’

Hackney

Architects Journal reports that Child Graddon Lewis has completed a 71-home mixed-tenure block in east London. The scheme includes over 32% affordable units and also features roof gardens. The variety and quality of the landscaped areas are key features of the overall ensemble, providing social spaces intended to enrich the experience of those living within the development – with raised beds provided for residents to grow their own food. Cllr for Hackney Counil, Guy Nicholson,  said: This approach means that every resident benefits from great homes, built to excellent space standards and high levels of daylight irrespective of tenure, whilst also designing great estate-based neighbourhoods with usable communal spaces and a balance between privacy and communality.

Architects journal reports that Dowen Farmer Architects winning approval for 30 flats across a four-storey building backing on to Abney Park in Hackney, East London. The plans are the latest in a string of proposed schemes for the site, which was formerly a car park for a factory sitting behind Stoke Newington High Street. The scheme, developed by Artform Gorup and Casa Bella, will include nine houses and 21 flats, with 10 of the homes being affordable – an uplift on some of the previous proposals.

Hammersmith & Fulham

Property Week reports that a £150m not-for-profit mixed-use scheme in White City, west London has received funding approval to begin work. The scheme by Hammersmith and Fulham Council and national education charity Ark will create 132 affordable homes, a new primary school, nursery and adult education centre, and a youth zone. The project, called EdCity, will also include a 100,000 sq ft, grade-A office building, 20,000 sq ft of which has been pre-let to Ark and its partner organisations. The development will be carried out in two phases, with the first phase including the school, youth zone and office and some of the new homes being open in the second half of 2023.

Islington

Property Week reports that Peabody has revealed new proposals for the redevelopment of the former Holloway prison in Islington, north London. The housing association plans to turn the site, which housed the largest women’s prison in western Europe until its closure in 2016, into roughly 980 homes, a new 1.5-acre public park, and a Women’s Building, which will offer women’s support services. Some 60% of the overall scheme will be for affordable housing and the car-free development will have 2,000 cycle spaces.

Southwark

Architects Journal reports that Pilbrow & Partners’ plans to turn a Home Office immigration centre next to London Bridge into a 27-storey office being tipped for approval by Southwark planning officers. The designs are for a 27-storey highly sustainable tower with glazed terracotta and steel bracing and a public park on the ground floor. Facilities include a gym, cycle parking and a public coffee bar, while a wooden staircase dominates the proposed triple-height entrance area. Southwark’s planning officers have recommended approval for the scheme, with councillors having the final say at a planning meeting next Tuesday (20 July).

Tower Hamlets

Architects Journal reports that Maccreanor Lavington has revealed designs for a 56-storey skyscraper in London’s Canary Wharf featuring a distinctive crown with an illuminated spire. Plans have been submitted to Tower Hamlets to demolish the existing six-storey 1980s office Ensign House on the South Quay waterside plot to make way for the 495-home tower. The bronze-clad building will feature a crown decorated with a thin spire which will light up at night and ‘celebrate the siting of the building’ in views from across London. It will provide homes for private sale as well as 125 affordable homes and will include 296m2 of shops at ground floor level and a pocket park to create ‘breathing space’.

Architects Journal reports that Knight Architects has submitted plans for a moveable footbridge in Canary Wharf, which it claims could become one of the busiest pedestrian bridges in London. The bridge has been drawn up to handle the ‘large volume of new development’ in the area – including Herzog & de Meuron’s new One Park Drive residential tower nearby – which is expected to increase ‘pedestrian traffic above levels that can be comfortably accommodated with existing infrastructure’. Subject to approval, the bridge is expected to start on site in 2022 and open in 2023.

Westminster

Architects Journal reports that Tonkin Liu is revealing its largest design for the transformation of Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, central London, into an ‘extraordinary urban garden’. The plans to revamp the Grade II-listed 2.5ha square for developer Grosvenor Britain & Ireland include floating timber pergolas, shaded gardens and water features. According to the team, the overall scheme will double the number of trees in the square and enlarge the garden areas by 3,000m² to create a ‘green oasis’. onkin Liu director Anna Liu said: ‘Social diversity and biodiversity are key as we develop the design, as we imagine a shared urban future where the role of water and biodiversity take precedence, wherein communities increasing valuing our times with others and outdoors.’

Property Week reports that UNIQLO occupying former Superdry store on Regent Street. The Great Ropemaker Partnership, a joint venture between Great Portland Estates and Ropemaker Properties, has let the entirety of 103/113 Regent Street to UNIQLO Europe. The property, which comprises 56,850 sq ft of mixed-use retail and office space, was previously let to Superdry. UNIQLO will undertake a comprehensive fit out and their new Regent Street flagship store trading over lower ground, ground and first floors will open in Spring 2022. Part of the ground floor will be occupied by Theory, another of the Fast Retailing Group’s brands. UNIQLO and Theory will also occupy the offices above the store for their European and UK operations.