Tall & Urban News

Housing minister Kit Malthouse has called-in Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA) contentious Vauxhall Cross Island skyscrapers proposal.

The decision to launch a local planning inquiry into the GB£600 million (US$762 million) project comes six months after Lambeth Council approved it amid criticism from local campaigners.

In a letter to the local authority, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government demanded greater clarity over the number of new homes and the design quality of the mixed-use scheme.

Malthouse has also asked Lambeth Council to demonstrate how the proposal conforms to National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) rules ensuring the vitality of town centers; building a strong, competitive economy; and conserving and enhancing the historic environment.

The two-tower scheme comprises 257 new homes in the shorter tower, of which 19 percent would be affordable; a 618-room hotel in the taller tower; and an 11-story podium comprising 20,000 square meters of office space, plus shops at ground level.

Councilors voted in favor of the two blocks of 53 and 42 stories and connecting podium site in December 2018. Should it go ahead, it will be the practice’s first major mixed-use residential and commercial development in the UK.

The scheme includes 23 London Living Rent flats on-site and a contribution of £30 million (US$38 million) towards affordable housing elsewhere in the borough.

The project transforms a grassed-over traffic island in the center of a busy gyratory. A Lambeth Council spokesperson said it would reshape “Vauxhall as a safer, cleaner, more enjoyable place for people to live, work in and visit.”

They added: “The application, which passed through a rigorous planning process as well as extensive pre-application discussions, is crucial in delivering a new town center for Vauxhall – including a much safer two-way road layout to replace the existing gyratory and create thousands of new jobs and homes. The delay, and potential disruption to this project, will have a hugely detrimental effect on the local economy, and puts at risk essential new affordable housing, not to mention jeopardizing the delivery of a healthier, more accessible vision for Vauxhall, which has been a longstanding ambition of both local residents and ward councilors.”

In January 2018, ZHA defended itself against accusations that the two towers of 53 and 42 stories, for Channel Islands-based developer VCI Property Holding, were too big for the site.

The ZHA scheme relies on land currently occupied by Arup Associates’ landmark bus station at Vauxhall. In December 2017, planners approved a smaller replacement bus station for the site, which campaigners say will reduce safety and convenience for passengers.

Pauline Guant, a member of the Save Vauxhall Bus Station campaign group, said of the call-in: “When a planning application is called in by the minister, there is the opportunity to visit the wider implications of the proposals. We have always maintained that the effect of the Island Site development should be examined in the context of the changes to the Bus Station and the Road System, the effects of servicing requirements for the Island Site on pedestrians, cyclists, public transport users and vehicles. In short, what happens within Vauxhall Cross should be looked at in the round. We welcome the opportunity for this to happen.”

Five years ago, Squire & Partners won permission on appeal for twin towers of 41 and 31 stories on the same site, though this was later scrapped.

For more on this story, visit Architects’ Journal.