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The "Three Sisters" - Three new towers for Waterloo

27K views 201 replies 60 participants last post by  ill tonkso 
#1 ·
Allies and Morrison has beaten a stellar shortlist to design this trio of towers in Waterloo, south London.

The practice beat rival projects designed by Make, Foreign Office Architects and KPF (pictured below) to win the high-profile competition, it was announced earlier this week.

Already dubbed the ‘Three Sisters’, the winning architect’s concept comprises two office buildings next to a residential tower.

The site, currently occupied by Elizabeth House, is bounded by York Road and Waterloo Station.

The announcement of the winner was delayed in order for developer P&O Estates to hold a public exhibition of the designs in Elizabeth House last weekend, which was attended by the public and local councillors.

The developer claims that the London Plan’s ‘Waterloo Opportunity Area’ identifies the site of the proposed development as an area that should provide 15,000 jobs and 500 new homes.

According to P&O Estates, detailed design work on the project will begin immediately, with a planning application scheduled to begin in summer 2006.
 
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#8 ·
A triple tower scheme is a good start to a new cluster i would say, darjole.

Will that make it 5 Clusters? 6? 7?!?!?

It will be cool if they start running together.... actually, scratch that, no it wont. As I have read somewhere here in Newyork there are very few distinct towers as there are so many. I would much prefer many clusters with amazing towers then a huge jumble of towers.
 
#11 ·
I have seen a render and can confirm that they appear to form a new and potentially spectacular skyline with three towers of varying heights, the london eye and the vauxhall skyline in the background.

Having seen the other entries (all single tower, iconic sculpture types, u know the sort!) this appears the most conservative of the lot. Having said that the tallest tower looks like it must be getting on for 150m, the other two not far behind. I can upload the render at the weekend if no one beats me to it!
 
#13 ·
Andrew said:
Agreed, they better not be starting a new 'cluster', London'll just end up repeating the 60's mistake of plonking lone towers (or just a few) everywhere.

No the 60s mistake was that they built stumpy blocks and placed them in the middle of well designed, cohesive and already successful areas.

This, however, is a great idea, an instant mini cluster like a couple of church spires (think Cambridge) forming a connection with the more dominant Blackfriars cluster and the more distant one at Vauxhall. This isnt like placing a single monolithic block in say Archway we must get rid of that old perception and embrace the potential of a dramatic new skyline South of the river... at the moment it is like looking at a void once you peel back the immediate thin crust of the South bank (go up the London Eye and see for yourself .... EVERYONE looks North), a complete waste for this central London arena.
 
#14 ·
birminghamculture said:
well 1 residential tower with 500 homes is at least 150m+ - 2 Office towers with 15,000 jobs? Wasnt that the same amount as the World Trade Center lol ;)
No no no.
500 homes and 15,000 jobs in the ‘Waterloo Opportunity Area’ not 500 homes and 15,000 jobs on this site.

The Elizabeth House site is quite small so I don't know how they are going to put 3 towers on it.
 
#16 ·
I would imagine these towers would extend down the side of Waterloo station as Elizabeth house & the other 60's buildings are owned by P&O & they have been wanting to develop the whole site for years & years.

Also on the other side of waterloo roundabout- where Elizabeth house is located is the sire for the Dean st tower so what we might end up with is a string of towers fromn Waterloo up to London Bridge- what with these, Beetham, Wilkinson Eyre, resi towers near the Tate & LBT.
 
#17 ·
DMT20 said:
Allies and Morrison has beaten a stellar shortlist to design this trio of towers in Waterloo, south London.

The practice beat rival projects designed by Make, Foreign Office Architects and KPF (pictured below) to win the high-profile competition, it was announced earlier this week.

Already dubbed the ‘Three Sisters’, the winning architect’s concept comprises two office buildings next to a residential tower.

The site, currently occupied by Elizabeth House, is bounded by York Road and Waterloo Station.

The announcement of the winner was delayed in order for developer P&O Estates to hold a public exhibition of the designs in Elizabeth House last weekend, which was attended by the public and local councillors.

The developer claims that the London Plan’s ‘Waterloo Opportunity Area’ identifies the site of the proposed development as an area that should provide 15,000 jobs and 500 new homes.

According to P&O Estates, detailed design work on the project will begin immediately, with a planning application scheduled to begin in summer 2006.
I'm liking the sound of this.

My only real concern is the amount of glass/steel they're going to use. Would be good to see some use of stone for once.
 
#19 ·
difficult to judge from these renderings, but they dont look very appealing.

the make project seems the worst of all in strategic terms. It will further isolate south London from the rest of Central London.

Allies and morrison's is probably the least damaging although not very inspiring.

All these successive proposals are just terrible for such a sensitive site. :bash:
 
#20 ·
All of them are pretty hideous. Make's is the only one that works (out of the four) but it's still not exactly something worthy of the site.

The A+M one looks like something out of a bad 25th century sci-fi thriller.

Oh well. The rot has begun, so to speak.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Waterloo and any of the other major London termini are a perfect location for skyscrapers (strategic views notwithstanding of course) and I thoroughly agree that this is an exciting development.

The area surrounding Waterloo is currently a hole of the worst variety (bar the wonderful Imax) and Elizabath House is its crowning glory of hideousness!! I liked the previous proposal for this site - it was a very unique design. Will have to wait for finalised designs/renders on this new one to make up my mind though. The only render pictured that I even vaguely like is the Foreign Office one. The rest make me spew and the Make design is a joke surely.

15000 jobs must be a misquote, no? Thats HUGE!
 
#25 ·
Not suer what to make of the Allies & Morrission- would need to see some other bigger pics. I quite liked that Make one as it would've looked quite good as a backdrop to the eye. Looks like its not just Elizabeth house that will be demolished but the whole lot of 60's blocks that run along waterloo station.
 
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