LONDON DEVELOPMENTS



Civil service blamed for West End slowdown;

the drive to take more than 20,000 civil servants out of London has been blamed for office take-up in the West End plunging to its lowest level since 1992. Jones Lang LaSalle said that 420,872sq ft of office space was leased in the West End in the first quarter of the year, compared to 1,171,661sq ft leased in the City in the same period. In the fourth quarter of 2004 the total for the West End was 1.1m sq ft. Public and government bodies accounted for about 30 per cent of the space leased in the West End last year but in the first quarter this had fallen to only 12 per cent. Jones Lang expect that take-up in the West End in 2005 will now be less than last year. However Land Securities said that the first quarter figures did not change their view that there will be a steady recovery in the West End this year. They have reported that P&O are joining 3i in moving their head office to Land Sec’s Cardinal Place development. In another development Google are likely to move to Belgrave House also in Victoria. Two city moves are State Street Bank, which is taking 200,000sq ft at 120 Cheapside and Robson Rhodes moving to Finsbury Square. For further information click here.Times 12.04.05 and Estates Gazette 16.04.05



http://www.gle.co.uk/onelondon/GVine/images/VauxhallTower.jpg
Proposed Vauxhall Tower


Lambeth 50-storey tower gets nod from ODPM;

St George, the developer behind the plans for a 50-storey residential tower, has been informed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) that it intends to give the go-ahead for the Vauxhall Tower, providing the company resolves outstanding issues relating to affordable housing. The application had been turned down three times by Lambeth Council as well as by an independent inspector. They had expressed worries about the size and location of the tower as well as the affordable housing element. A final decision is expected in May. Plans for more residential towers were also released for City Road in Islington. A consortium formed by Groveworld, British Waterways and Miller Developments have submitted plans for three towers of 28, 15 and 6 storeys at 259 City Road. Estates Gazette 09.04.05




Lipton bids for £1bn Canning Town project;

bidding through his new Stanhope Places venture, Sir Stuart Lipton has teamed up with Lend Lease, the Australian property group, to bid for the £1bn regeneration scheme for Canning Town in Newham. Other groups interested in bidding include Quintain, Taylor Woodrow and Barratt. The proposed scheme includes 7,000 new homes. Times 12.04.05





Final bids to redevelop the Elephant & Castle;

bids to redevelop the Elephant & Castle were submitted to Southwark Council on April 18. According to the Independent on Sunday, more than 20 bids were expected including St Modwen, who own the current shopping centre, and Multiplex, the Australian property and construction company that last year bought Chelsfield. A surprise last-minute bidder was Canary Wharf. However the ‘Sindie’ lays a great deal of emphasis on the joint bid submitted by Elliott Bernard, the former chairman of Chelsfield, and Mallory Clifford, whose Blackfriars Investments have been very active in the SE1 area. Their bid called “Fighting for Southwark” is deemed to be radical, particularly on the housing front where they have teamed up with Richard Lefrak, a leading New York landlord. They are planning 5,500 homes to be rented out on a not-for-profit basis which should be 25 per cent below market rents. The consortium, which is to be called ‘Oceancrest’, is pledging to stay on site for 15 years and has won backing from Royal London Asset Management and the Bank of Scotland. The rest of the development will include 800,000sq ft of shops and leisure facilities and will be themed as London’s fashion quarter. Independent on Sunday 17.04.05 and Times 19.04.05



Paddington hospital in “death throes”;

this slightly unfortunate headline in Estates Gazette marks a story that the key site needed by the proposed Paddington Heath Campus is now likely to become a multi-million-pound tower. PDCL, the consortium controlled by Multiplex and the Reuben Brothers have been meeting to agree the details of the new scheme which will end the £1bn mega-hospital proposal which had foundered on government reluctance to meet the asking price for the 3.2-acre site. Westminster Council said that PDCL, the Department of health and the health authorities are still trying to take the health campus forward. Estates Gazette 16.04.05



Multiplex favourites to win Young’s Brewery site;

the Times says that the Australian property group Multiplex are thought to be in pole position to buy the famous Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. Young and Co have brewed beer on the 5.5 acre site since 1831 although the brewery itself was established in 1581. It is thought that the site is likely to be transformed into shops and upmarket apartments although Multiplex are experts at building residential towers. Wandsworth Council said that the site would need to be reclassified from employment land to town centre uses under supplementary planning guidance. However they did see it as a catalyst both in triggering investment into the town centre and in linking the commercial and retail areas of the town. Young’s want to continue brewing in the borough but because of lack of suitable sites may be forced to look elsewhere in London. Times 15.04.05

I am not responsible for this site, but I would say it is preferable not to multiply the threads for the same topic. The vauxhall tower and other issues related hereabove are reported and commented in the "London Summary" threads or the "Vauxhall Tower" threads.

It's a lot of different stories not just one, and your right your not in charge mate.

Maybe not, but he is right... for lots of general stories we have the summary threads, and for Vauxhall Tower we have a Vauxhall Tower thread (makes sense, yeah?).

Wow, I'm really starting to like the Vauxhall Tower now, some of the renderings look stunning. It may not be in the best location but given it's technological advancement and design it's a great development.

yeah, it really looks quite goo, but im sure if they ever did make it into some form of cluster it would be even better

I think that tower would be better placed in CW, it may sound a bit selfish of me to say, but for a tower to stand out on its own (especialy in London) then it should have a much more elegant look to. take for example LBT designs

It won't be on its own for long though - there'll be Vauxhall Bondway Tower, plus a couple of other 600-footers and a few midrises...

That's being a bit presumptious!

Oh... please dont critisize me if im too late but, St. Georges Wharf's 150m tower is u/c! The area that is going to Booom in the future aswell of lots of others that are conciderably local!

St. George Wharf has been under construction for about 5 years... fraid you are a bit late with that one!

:colgate: Ohhh Really, Brit! Thats a long time considering it hasnt left the ground :nuts:

@elletijanii

St George's Wharf is a large residential development, of which the "Vauxhall Tower" is just a part.

There are actually several midrises as well, not just the tower.

You can see them here, in this photo by Peyre. They are the green/white buildings with the funny-looking rooves, to the left of the Millbank Tower:



http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/t/atma83/Pics/London/VEDay/cimg0993copy.jpg

I hate St Georges Wharf....i dread seeing it everytime i come into London at Waterloo. Urgh to think an architect got paid loads to design it........

Why do you hate it?? Any particular reason? I like it and i love that view, its modern, bulky, and contrasts well with parliament. I know the landscaping architecture may not do the public realm any good, but the massing looks brilliant i think..

yep, I'm quite keen on them. Fits in well with its surronding, and just adds a bit more bulk.

Here's a closer view:



http://tinypic.com/517vnm

It is really ugly.

Ive never really minded them, sort of blends in, adds interest to the skyline... you could arge that it is a bit vomit inducing in its replication of cladding like a copy and paste function

The roofs look like the "wings" of a 1959 Chevy Impala.

http://img78.echo.cx/img78/6151/flagstaffmi561ir.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Ive always liked them!

I've never understood the hostility towards these. Maybe they're a bit too 'Miami' for Londoners, but compared to a lot of the apartment blocks along the Thames they bring a bit of interest.

I think the St Georges Wharf midrise development is fantastic looking. Up close, it's even better - I was surprised how large they look when driving south on Vauxhall Bridge. I love seeing it on my way to and from Victoria. The building sits on the river well, steepening as you go away from it, giving the effect of a river lined by a canyon of buildings. I know some don't like this effect, but I do.

They compliment the MI6 building to an extent, and the Vauxhall Tower will only make this development a deserved landmark in South London.

Probably the skyscraper I most want to see go up after Minerva and LBT.

They compliment the MI6 building to an extent, and the Vauxhall Tower will only make this development a deserved landmark in South London.


I agree, they are really nice to look at and they help MI6 (which is a stunning building) fit in with the area. St Georges Wharf is one of the places in London I'd really love to live!!!

I agree with all the positive sentiments... of course more could have been done to blend it into the streets behind, but from the river it is fantastic, a very successful twist when looking down from parliament...

I don't dislike them as a massing from the river. I do have a problem with their roofs though. They look like weird little easter bonnets tied with a ribbon from the land side. The 'ribbon' is also completely stuck on and fulfills no structural role (as the construction sequence reveals if anyone hgas seen these grow).

Also the green glass is naff and the cladding system generally cheap. The mullions are so deep that oblique views along the river from the penthouses are severely restricted. Add to that the fact that they make little effort to create a relationship with the street behind (given the street behind that may not be so much of a problem but an attempt would have been nice) and I think you have a pretty poor building.

ALL that said, I don't think that they merit the level of revulsion often levelled at the them.

I've always known that the 150m building was called 'vauxhall tower'... and i can understand why, when i sed, 'st. georges wharf', seemd that i think that thats the buildings name! I live there! But because the development is an ambitious one, i thought i'd name it after st...! But seriousley, those greeny, beige buildings are fantastic wen your up close. the area is sooo amazing - with the fancy bus garage and the xtra wide roads and the MFI across the road and, to come, the battersea mall (power station already under major rejuvenation).
-
- Yeah, so... about vauxhall tower - i was at the site last weekend on ma way to batter.. park and there wer loads of big blue construction boards saying 'st. G's Wharf... 150m' all aroung the gaff. i had a lil' peek behind them and saw some underground development on a fairly large site concidering the building is sooo narrow. I wanted to know if it really is that project! i would av asked the PM but it was a special family outting:)

ah that reminds me, i think these were used for the penultimate episode of Hustle, when they did up stacey's ex husband. They looked very flashy inside aswell.

I'm unsure about them myself. In some ways they just seem to fussy to me. When you come in by train they just seem to loom above the swirling mess that is Vauxhall.
I think they would be better if they seperated in diferent towers rather than a variagated condo sprawl. Plus the the glass pinnacles remind me of a Pez dispenser.

Plus the the glass pinnacles remind me of a Pez dispenser.

so true ! I remember them !

-------------------

Is St George planning to build right away now or are there still plenty of flats to sell or build in the huge mid rise section?

The somewhat cynical design of these flats extends beyond the aesthetics into the reality of living in them. A friend of mine lives 11 stories up on the St George's Wharf midrise wing nearest Vauxhall Bridge. Fair enough, inside, the flats are fairly spacious, with bedrooms each having en suite bathrooms. He even has two balconies: one overlooks the river and Pimlico (and incidentally a lot of other balconies and bedrooms below), and is relatively peaceful. But if you open the other kitchen balcony doors, overlooking the bus station, the roar of the traffic is very loud, and constant. He is fairly happy there, but the flat has no air conditioning. And surprisingly, it is not even centrally heated: rooms have electric heaters, which for the price seems pretty poor. There is an air of cheapness about the finish: St George has piled 'em high, packed 'em in, and made a fat profit. If I'd had £500,000 to spend on a flat, I don't think I'd have gone for one of these overlooking Vauxhall Cross. :)

air-conditioning?! Air-conditioning should be banned in all residential buildings!

...But seriousley, those greeny, beige buildings are fantastic wen your up close. the area is sooo amazing - with the fancy bus garage and the xtra wide roads and the MFI across the road and, to come, the battersea mall (power station already under major rejuvenation).


the extra wide roads and the MFI are what make the area a hostile dump! I would seriously question your sanity calling that area amazing... Imagination man! Imagination!

$500K for an apartment and no central heating included other than electric baseboard heaters! Incredible. I too like the general appearance of the development, but London developers are definately cheap at times, or they have a deal with the electric company.

Have you been around ther, potto? thers no way you should think its a dump due to the road 'n' MFI... if you sed the train bridges i'd agree.. but u never! I like a busy life 'n' seeing thousands of people a day... consequantly i dont like lonly back streets:(

Quick pic of the whole development showing where the tower will go- 4,5,10 & 13 are being built now.

I quite like the whole scheme visually-looks good when viewed from hungerford bridge & on train from victoria. However would hate to live there- hemmed in by a very busy road network with not much around & the development is way too cramped & dense. Theres not much public or green space & your view for most of the apartments would seem to be a busy road or other flats inthe development. They cost a fortune as well.

http://tinypic.com/51vpko

DEL

It's been confirmed that the tower is being marketed within the next 6 months, and construction is expected to begin shortly afterwards. The site has already been demolished and cleared, so the core should be rising by early-mid 2007, maybe even sooner.

oh come on these apartments are monstrous, cheap and nasty developer lead crap, and detailed appallingly. They do not compliment the MI6 building they actually make it look worse.
What is such a pity is that nothing has been learnt from building cliff- like buildings against the river only for rich people to enjoy the view. Why did they not open up to vauxhall behind? this would of made these buildings relate far more to the urban enviroment. Well more fool the twats who have bought into these badly designed overpriced peices of sh*t.

the one thing these apartments are not is cheap. the design quality in the rest of st georges wharf is pretty damn good too.

oh come on these apartments are monstrous, cheap and nasty developer lead crap, and detailed appallingly. They do not compliment the MI6 building they actually make it look worse. What is such a pity is that nothing has been learnt from building cliff- like buildings against the river only for rich people to enjoy the view. Why did they not open up to vauxhall behind? this would of made these buildings relate far more to the urban enviroment. Well more fool the twats who have bought into these badly designed overpriced peices of sh*t."Why did they not open up to Vauxhall behind?"? Maybe because "Vauxhall behind" consists of a massive fugly traffic roundabout? Why should any building strive to "relate" to such an unappealing "urban enviroment"? And why in fuck's name would anyone desire to open that scene up to the riverfront? :dunno:

Some people latch on to every naff planning cliche and apply them dogmatically with absolutely zero discrimination or common sense whatsoever!! Next thing you're gonna tell me is that St Georges Wharf was yet another wasted opportunity to create a "lively Continental-style piazza with cafes spilling out over the pavements etc...." ;) :laugh:

I think the St George's Wharf development is spectacular. I don't think it's badly designed at all. There's nothing cheap and nasty about it. The architecture is far superior the neighbouring MI6 building. St George's Wharf looks more like yuppie magnificence to me. :)

someone on the forums phoned up to ask about the flats in the nearby developments. And they let slip that there are only two apartments to be sold before St Georges starts

i have to agree with monkey here. for once. anyone who thinks this tower would ruin vauxhall needs to visit vauxhall!

someone on the forums phoned up to ask about the flats in the nearby developments. And they let slip that there are only two apartments to be sold before St Georges starts

Yes that was me...I got it in writing..nobody seemed exited when I said it on here so I used the letter to light my open fire (the only reason for winter in my opnion) Didnt you say you were buying them both?

Could ST Georges wharf market sooner than the expected September date?

Yes that was me...I got it in writing..nobody seemed exited when I said it on here so I used the letter to light my open fire (the only reason for winter in my opnion) Didnt you say you were buying them both?

maybe....









no :(

i have to agree with monkey here. for once. anyone who thinks this tower would ruin vauxhall needs to visit vauxhall!

Vauxhall is an indescribable shithole at the moment that consists of a huge one-way system, hoardings and advertising galore, a dingy tube station and possibly the worst BR station in Central London. 'The Big Issue' head office and a scattering of halfway houses/homeless shelters don't exactly add to the area either.

The wierd bus station is an improvement - with its bizarre fork-like prongs sticking out but that it my friends.

St George's Wharf is a hideous development that is just far too big and ruins the riverside and any views of it. 2 maybe 3 of its sail/wing like peaks I could live with but 5 is it at last count or have they finshed the 6th?

Bring on Vauxhall Tower and all the other towers planned for the area now. No, not later, NOW!

I like St Georges Wharf and I def would not say no to one of those apartments!!!

st george's wharf is crap. this is another case of londoners thinking their shit smells good simply because it is theirs. no doubt the same people will say they like the utterly abysmal and downright embarrasing south bank centre. let's face it, if either development were in salford you wouldn't care less about it, and if you did, it would only be for the purpose of ridicule.

Vauxhall isn't great at the moment, but it's not that bad, I can think of plenty of other places that a far worse, Elephant, Old Street, Stratford, the massive roundabout is rather uninviting, but go down Vauxhall Grove and Bonnington Square and you find a quite little oasis of old 3 storey Victorian terraces. The new bus station is pretty funky and cool, the Vauxhall Tower and those Twin tower will definately improve the area though.

Any news on the twins?

These towers are good news. The question is 'will they actually ever get built?'

As one of the oldest members of these skyscraper forums along with Gothic and Britannia I remember when St Georges Wharf went in for planning... must have been back in 2000... those heady days when HSBC and Citigroup were approved and the cores were rising!!!

It'll be good to see it finally under construction because this tower 'should' fit in with the rest of the development and the MI6 building. It'll be a postmodern promenade for London. All they need is colourful pavements with faux neoclassical features (Terry Farrell, John Outram anyone?) and it'll be its own weird-messed-up precinct of postmodern pap :)

Vauxhall is an indescribable shithole at the moment that consists of a huge one-way system, hoardings and advertising galore, a dingy tube station and possibly the worst BR station in Central London. 'The Big Issue' head office and a scattering of halfway houses/homeless shelters don't exactly add to the area either.

The wierd bus station is an improvement - with its bizarre fork-like prongs sticking out but that it my friends.

St George's Wharf is a hideous development that is just far too big and ruins the riverside and any views of it. 2 maybe 3 of its sail/wing like peaks I could live with but 5 is it at last count or have they finshed the 6th?

Bring on Vauxhall Tower and all the other towers planned for the area now. No, not later, NOW!

Vauxhall looks wise is a bit shit. However there's an alright biggish park there, a nice few cafes (that's "caths" not "cafays"!), a 'Gay Village' and some not too shabby views next to the Thames. The train station offers excellent connections with trains matching tube frequencies to Waterloo and Clapham Junction : Yes it's a bit tired, but who's gonna pay to do it up? Jazz up the buildings, build these towers and ignite the streetscape. You'll then have a pretty funky part of town.

The whole area is a bit of a bum hole really, it needs this, and as soon as possible

Vauxhall looks wise is a bit shit. However there's an alright biggish park there, a nice few cafes (that's "caths" not "cafays"!), a 'Gay Village' and some not too shabby views next to the Thames. The train station offers excellent connections with trains matching tube frequencies to Waterloo and Clapham Junction : Yes it's a bit tired, but who's gonna pay to do it up? Jazz up the buildings, build these towers and ignite the streetscape. You'll then have a pretty funky part of town.

Yes, the transport connections are impeccable but have you ever stood on a platform at the BR station in winter? My God! Not nice.

I wouldn't exactly call it a Gay Village either. There are a lot of hardcore gay clubs and a sauna but you only ever see these people completely wasted when your going to work in the morning. Saying that, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a gay institution. Long may it live etc.

There are some tidy little backstreets but as for the core of Vauxhall, I stand by my every word.

Yes, the transport connections are impeccable but have you ever stood on a platform at the BR station in winter? My God! Not nice.

I wouldn't exactly call it a Gay Village either. There are a lot of hardcore gay clubs and a sauna but you only ever see these people completely wasted when your going to work in the morning. Saying that, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a gay institution. Long may it live etc.

There are some tidy little backstreets but as for the core of Vauxhall, I stand by my every word.

Vauxhall has become the late-night alternative to Soho... The Gay bars wouldn't get any change out of Westminster for late licences (bar the hideous 79CXR inexplicably), so Vauxhall it is. Its now got several clubs, a couple of bars and a sauna... certainly on a summer Sunday afternoon you can't move for queens. Its certainly no Soho though, and probably never will be. People don't want to sit outside a restaurant under a railway viaduct facing a one-way system, unless something is created from nothing it will never have the daytime gay village feel that Old Compton Street has.

Gays are often the first wave of gentirifcation because they couldn't care less how rough the local schools are. They start demanding certain amenities (gyms, trendy cafes, decent restaurants) which then makes the area attractive to young Middle Class straight people who might in turn end up having kids in the area and grudgingly sending them to local schools.

These new residentials being chucked up are perfectly timed... If I had the cash spare I'd certainly buy one as I think the area will still appreciate a lot in value.

Whereabouts in relation to the St George's Wharf development is the tall tower to be built? By the river-front, upstream; or across Nine Elms Lane, on the same side as the market tower?

Also, looking at the design of the St George's Wharf development, I guess there will be a fifth tower on the upstream end to match the first one by Vauxhall Bridge. Has any work started on it, I can't see anything when travelling through Vauxhall Station.