Tall & Urban News

London mayor Sadiq Khan has approved Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates’ (KPF) plans for a 20-story tower in Bermondsey—two years after Southwark Council rejected plans for the site

Southwark councillors rejected an application for an office tower in 2020, saying the 87-meter-tall building would have "excessive height, scale and massing" for the 0.3-hectare site in St Thomas Street—down the road from The Shard. However, the planning application was called in by the Greater London Authority.

The new scheme has been amended to allow flexible medical, research and development uses, with increased floor-to-floor heights, a more rigid structure to control vibration, and space for systems to support healthcare uses. The tower’s height has increased to 97 meters.

KPF said its revised tower had a "distinctive stepped profile, rising to 20 stories, composed of a series of carefully assembled volumes that respond to the sensitivities of the immediate context." It added that the façades are differentiated ‘through subtle variations within a palette of brick, terracotta, stone and glazing’ and are ‘inspired by traditional warehouse architecture."

The tower will have active frontages, with shop space as well as an urban garden at its base. An existing warehouse at 9 Fenning Street will also be retained and converted into retail and community space.

A letter from Southwark Council to the GLA last month pointed out that there would now be a "much taller building than previously proposed." However, the mayor of London approved the scheme following a public hearing last week.

For more on this story, go to Architects' Journal.