ZHA wins appeal victory for controversial Vauxhall skyscrapers
15/4/20
The £600 million Vauxhall Cross Island project was recommended for approval by the planning inspector following a two-day hearing in December.
The scheme was approved by Lambeth Council in late 2018 but was called-in by then-housing secretary James Brokenshire last May after campaigners and the neighbouring borough of Wandsworth objected to its scale.
The two towers will stand at 53 and 42 storeys (185m and 151m) while a connecting podium will stand at 10 storeys.
The scheme is ZHA's first major mixed-use residential and commercial development and has been described as a 'breakthrough project' for the practice.
The scheme will provide 257 homes, including 23 affordable homes, while another 54 homes would be provided indirectly through a £30 million payment to Lambeth Council.
The scheme will also contain shops, offices and a new hotel - as well as a new public square.
The planning inspector, John Braithwaite, noted that the towers breached the 150m limit set out in Lambeth's local plan, but also said the limit had been discarded for other towers that will form the Vauxhall cluster.
Surrounding towers include Kohn Pederson Fox's 50-storey residential tower and tp bennett's 37-storey student tower.
Braithwaite also noted that the scheme would finally see the demolition of the striking Vauxhall 'ski-jump' bus station with its 200m steel ribbon roof, which runs along Bondway by Vauxhall station.
The much-loved station was designed by Arup in 2005 but has faced demolition under numerous schemes for almost a decade. It will be replaced by a smaller-scale bus stop by Vauxhall station, designed by 5th Studio with Ramboll, JCLA and Mott MacDonald, which received planning permission two years ago.
'Local residents would prefer that the existing bus station is retained, but they also seek the creation of a town centre with Bondway at its heart,' said Braithwaite.
'They can't have both, because retention of the bus station would prevent Bondway becoming anything other than it is at present.'
The planning inspector concluded: 'The proposed development, in architecture and urban townscape terms, would be of the highest quality and would successfully contribute to the planned cluster of tall buildings in Vauxhall.'
ZHA director Jim Heverin called the decision: 'very welcome news, especially in these circumstances, and we greatly look forward to progressing this project to help deliver a new town centre in Vauxhall.'