Fresh plans have been revealed for an office and residential scheme on London’s South Bank, nearly a year after Foster + Partners replaced Wilkinson Eyre as the architect on the development for the 18 Blackfriars Road site. The long-vacant site, which lies at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, was purchased by US developers Hines and the National Pension Service of Korea in October 2021.
The consortium inherited a consented proposal for a Wilkinson Eyre-designed scheme of two towers – a 53-story residential tower and a 34-story office tower – but opted to replace the architects and develop a new design. The revised proposals, which have now gone out to public consultation, are comprised of three brick-clad towers clustered round a central plaza which connects to the Christ Church Garden.
All buildings in the complex will feature green terraces and roofs, and will consist of an office building, the residential Stamford Building, and the named Paris Building, which will contain affordable housing.
The site has been vacant since 2016, when several buildings including Owen Williams’ Sainsbury’s sausage factory, England’s first structure built from poured-in-place concrete, were demolished. The new proposals will be submitted to Southwark Council before the end of the year. The developer hopes to begin construction as early as next summer. Lipton Rogers is serving as a project consultant on the scheme, with Arup also advising.
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