A weekly round up of the latest planning and property news from the central London boroughs

Camden

CamdenNewJournal reports that Landowner Landsec has said it now plans to have 1,850 instead of 1,900 homes on the O2 Centre site amid a raft of objections the project is too big. John Saynor, chairman of West Hampstead Amenity and Transport (WHAT), said: “The reduction of 50 homes isn’t much – it still leaves a very ‘dense’ scheme – large numbers of homes packed into a small area.” In a new survey launched this week the company said it would also include space for a replacement gym and a cinema – and also “contribute” to “station improvements” at Finchley Road Overground and West Hampstead Tube stations. But Mr Saynor said the group remained “unhappy there is still no commitment to help pay for a lift at West Hampstead Tube station”.

City of London

Architects Journal reports that Eric Parry’s planned Justice Quarter in the City of London has come under fire after analysis suggested its construction would pump tens of thousands more tonnes of Co2 into the atmosphere compared with retrofitting existing buildings. The £240 million Salisbury Square development off Fleet Street, dubbed the Justice Quarter, involves replacing six historic buildings with three new ones, including a flagship seven-storey court building. Developer and planning authority the City of London claims that the project will help it to ‘meet its targets to achieve net zero across the Square Mile by 2040’. But an embodied carbon analysis indicates that its demolition-hungry approach will result in an upfront carbon footprint more than 40 per cent higher than a strategy based on reusing the existing buildings.

Estates Gazette reports that German investors have surged back into the City of London office market this year, having poured a collective £847m into the Square Mile by mid-September. The figure, which is already a four-year high compared with previous full-year totals, is second only to 2017’s record number of £1.18bn. German investors have made up one-fifth of all capital lowing into the City. Key transactions have included Union Investment’s purchase of 1 Braham Steet, EC1, for £429m and Deka Immobilien buying 90 Fetter Lane, EC4, for approximately £118m.

The City of London Corporation is mounting a new campaign to support retail, leisure and hospitality businesses as well as cultural attractions by encouraging people back into the Square Mile for work and play. The “Square Smile” campaign is designed to raise awareness of the benefits of returning to the City and face-to-face interaction as firms increasingly give their staff more flexibility on where they locate through hybrid working. It will showcase the City’s vibrant offer – ranging from world-class culture, heritage, cuisine, entertainment, retail, architecture and much more. The campaign launches on 13 October 2021 and runs until the beginning of 2022.

Hackney

Architects Journal reports that East Architecture has obtained planning permission for 69 infill homes at the Frampton Park Estate in Hackney, east London. The homes are being developed by Hackney Council and will be 33 per cent social housing, 17 per cent affordable housing and 50 per cent market rent. Under the plans, a community hall building will be demolished and replaced with a partly four and partly seven-storey building with 51 homes. The Atrium Building would have an oval atrium space with deck access to homes and a central courtyard amenity space. Elsewhere on the estate, five homes would be built in an undercroft space beneath Tradescant House, an existing 11-storey building. The homes would be next to the Bookend Building, a new building of four and eight storeys, containing 13 homes.

Estates Gazette reports that tech unicorn Marshmallow is lining up a move to CIT Real Estate’s Hylo, a new office building on the northern edge of the City of London, after a period of rapid growth for the company. The start-up, which offers car insurance via an app allowing users to make claims digitally, is under offer on around 30,000 sq ft at the site across three floors. The 29-storey building on Bunhill Row, EC1, near Old Street Roundabout, contains 285,00 sq ft of retail space. CIT bought the site in 2015 for £107m and it is being marketed to potential occupiers. The deal comes amid a recovery in central London office take-up, which reaches 5.1m sq ft by the end of the third quarter.

Hammersmith and Fulham

Property Week reports that Chevalier International Holdings has made its first UK real estate acquisition, paying £21m for 1-3 Hammersmith Broadway. The 30,000 sq ft, grade-A office building is above Hammersmith tube and bus station. It is let on a 10-year lease to The Department for Work and Pensions, operating the largest Job Centre Plus in the UK at a rent of around £39/sq ft. Christopher Liu, business development director at Chevalier, said: “I am very pleased with Chevalier’s entry into the UK commercial property market and we will continue to look for assets that generate steady income and value.”

Islington

Islington Gazette reports that the revamp of Barnard Park could see 13 mature trees chopped down to make way for a repositioned, smaller football pitch. In 2017 the council came under fire for plans to split the park into a seven-a-side pitch and “green areas”. The application was withdrawn following protests from users and a call-in from the government, leading the council to submit new plans for a 3G nine-a-side pitch. Rather than locating the new pitch where the current pitch now stands, planners have decided to shift it 45 degrees into a diagonal position in the park. The council would plant 51 new trees in mitigation, and maintains the changes will help more people to “enjoy the health benefits that the park can offer”, with the improved sports pitch, large grass area and new eco-friendly community building.

Lambeth

Construction Enquirer reports that office developer CLS has picked Galliford Try to deliver a £13m contract to build a sustainable office block at Vauxhall Walk in South London. Designed by architect Manser the project is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating and will feature passive ventilation, smart lighting and photovoltaic panels. The new 10-storey development will provide 28,500 sq ft of office space, with a communal and private south-facing roof terrace, a café, shower and changing facilities along with secure cycle storage.

Southwark

Property Week reports that Maya Capital and AnaCap have acquired 160 Blackfriars Road in London’s South Bank with plans to redevelop the scheme. The office and hotel scheme comprises a 106,000 sq ft office and ground-floor retail building and land for a 64,000 sq ft, eight-storey consented hotel scheme. The pair said its redevelopment would bring its total investment in the scheme to £125m. David Pralong, managing partner of Maya Capital, said: “The entry into London marks our belief in the resilience of the London office market and ability of grade-A, ESG-focused office offerings to outperform the market. We are also keen to engage with our tenants, Southwark Council and the local community to invest in this asset and deliver on our ambitious plan.”

Construction Enquirer reports that Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has decided to go out to competitive tender again for its new landmark Evelina London Children’s Hospital extension. In a statement issued by the trust, it said: “The next stage will require a fresh competitive tender the construction and operational fit-out.” Following advice from Government, the Trust decided to switch from a shell and core build, which would have required fitting out later, to an integrated build with a single contract for building the shell and core and the fit out. This new approach requires a fresh competitive procurement which would allow Bouygues to submit a fresh bid for the expanded scope of works.

Architects Journal reports that Spheron Architects has unveiled early designs to revamp the square next to Will Alsop’s Stirling Prize-winning Peckham Library in south London. Its plans, recently published for consultation,include adding a new building, to be occupied by Peckham Platform art gallery. The scheme would remove a 35m-span arch in Peckham High Street and a number of cycle and pedestrian routes will be marked out in coloured stripes running through the square. The new designs come five years after Southwark Council approved Carl Turner Architects’  controversial, but never realised, plans to revamp part of the square and add 19 flats. Those proposals also included the removal of the McAslan arch, despite objections from some locals.Save Peckham Arch, a community group set up to oppose the 2016 plans, which applied to have the McAslan arch named an Asset of Community Value, said it could not support the early designs for the revamped square.

Tower hamlets

Architects Journal reports that a planning inspector has approved Carmody Groarke’s plans for a six-storey office building in Bethnal Green, east London. Tower Hamlets rejected a planning application for the project in January this year on the advice of planning officers, who said it was poorly designed, citing its excessive height and inappropriate choice of materials. Planners also said the designs would harm the locally listed HSBC building next door; produce an unacceptable loss of light to nearby buildings; and prejudice the development of neighbouring sites, due to windows on its eastern elevation. But planning inspector Mark Philpott disagreed with all four reasons for rejection. Carmody Groarke is set to add a three-storey extension to a three-storey warehouse at 469 Bethnal Green Road and the building will have a ground-floor shop below five storeys of office space.

Architects Journal reports that Grimshaw has put forward plans for an extension of the ExCel Centre in London’s Royal Docks, including a floating walkway along the Thames. As part of the third phase of development, 40,900m² will be added to the eastern side of the main centre to meet demand for hosting ‘world-leading events’. An ExCeL London spokesperson said: ‘Following a successful public consultation and pre-application engagement process with the London Borough of Newham and the GLA, ExCeL has now submitted our application for a Phase 3 extension. Newham Council has validated the application and in turn started its own statutory consultation process, inviting comments from residents.’

Evening Standard reports that TfL revealed plans to install a commemorative plaque alongside a cherry blossom tree in a pedestrian plaza in Aldgate as a permanent tribute to those who lost their lives to the virus while keeping London’s transport network moving. Ninety-eight London transport workers, including more than 50 bus drivers, have died of Covid-19 since March 2020. Several taxi drivers have also died, though the total number is unknown. TfL is aiming to submit a planning application for the memorial to Tower Hamlets council early next year with a view to opening it by summer 2022.

Wandsworth

WandsworthSW18.com reports that a new 20 storey tower has been given Wandsworth council’s green light for development on the 100 square metre plot between 86-88 Garratt Lane and the River Wandle. The 68 metre high, super-thin Wandsworth Tower will contain 27 new apartments and a riverside cafe on a plot which is currently being used as a carpark. A landscaped river walk, which will be accessible to the general public, forms part of the scheme. A pedestrian courtyard is also planned for the east of the plot. According to the council, ten of the proposed residential units in the tower will be classed as affordable housing, which equates to 37% of all the apartments being built. When the original plans for the Wandsworth Tower were submitted to the council, there were sixty-six objections, but councillors were eventually swayed by the large percentage of affordable housing and the Wandle River Trail additions.

Westminster 

Property Week reports that Westminster City Council is offering up-and-coming fashion designers free pop-up space on London’s Oxford Street in a bid to drive footfall on the iconic shopping street in the run-up to Christmas. The council has signed for a 20,000 sq ft site at 500 Oxford Street, the former home of fashion brand New Look, where it plans to offer space to multiple start-up fashion designers during the lead-up to Christmas and into the new year. It will not charge any rent on the space and also plans to cover more than £800,000 in business rates.