Three more towers in Brent set for approval
5/9/23
Brent council is set to add to its growing numbers of high rise schemes with three more towers set to be approved next week.
Two separate applications for mixed-use blocks ranging in height from 18 to 23 storeys have been recommended for the green light at the council's next planning committee meeting.
Together, the two schemes would provide more than 750 homes and 2,300 sq m of office space.
The largest is a two-block student accommodation-led scheme on Watkin Road on the northern edge of the £3bn Wembley Park development area which surrounds Wembley Stadium.
Designed for developer Tribe by Barton Willmore, which was taken over by Stantec last year, it will span two sites either side of Watkin Road and require the demolition of a series of mostly single-storey industrial units..
The northern site has been earmarked for a 21-storey tower containing 200 student rooms, while its shorter neighbour would comprise a stepped block of part 18 and part six storeys containing a further 419 student rooms and 1,500 sq m of commercial space.
The second scheme set for approval next week is a 23-storey tower near Stonebridge Park station which will replace a three-storey office block called Prospect House.
This scheme, which has been designed by FAL Architecture for developer Sonal Worldwide Limited, would contain 139 homes and 800sq m of "creative" light industrial space.
Also on the project team is planning and townscape consultant Savills, landscape architect Arlette Garcia, engineer Campbell Reith, flood consultant WSP and QS Johnson Associates.
Neither scheme received objections from Historic England or heritage groups, but the Wembley towers received 34 objections from locals due to concerns over the scheme's height, loss of sunlight, overlooking of neighbouring buildings and pressure on nearby infrastructure.
The three towers would be the latest in a string of approvals for large schemes by Brent this year, following consent for a 26-storey residential scheme and a 26-storey hotel in May and a 19-storey tower in July.
The council's other recent approvals include a 20-storey residential tower on Edgware Road which is replacing one of the last remaining office blocks designed by self-build pioneer Walter Segal.