Vista | Nine Elms | 56m, 50m | 18, 17 fl

31276 Views 59 Replies 26 Participants Last post by gravesVpelli, Sep 17, 2018

SE9

Discussion Starter · Apr 29, 2014 (Edited)

Vista
Nine Elms
SW8

Official website: http://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/new-homes/london/battersea/vista-chelsea-bridge

Planning application: Wandsworth [2011/2089]

Development Facts

Homes: 456 units

Floors: 17 and 15

Heights: 50m and 44m

Commercial space: 1,257m²

Developer: Berkeley Group

Architect: Scott Brownrigg

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SE9

Discussion Starter · #2 · Apr 29, 2014

Marco Polo House is currently under demolition, to make way for Nine Elms Vista. 12th April:

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bonquiqui

· #3 · Apr 29, 2014

What a shame the QVC building has to suffer for this the replacement is nothing special but greed and overpriced flats with no soul.

tahr4801

· #4 · Apr 29, 2014

Nice development, good looking and soon to be nice affordable flats after the housing bubble bursts

Retro Specs

· #5 · Apr 29, 2014

As it happened I took a photo of the demolition this afternoon:

This was taken looking towards the Roundabout/away from the Thames. This seems to be the side that's most advanced.

This development looks like it will be a lot nicer than most of the others along this road, the view of the biggest completed development from Battersea Power Station looks dreadful: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.479...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1srF_NvaodaGj8Ku0sspMIDA!2e0

The area has also suffered some really terrible smaller developments, such as this one: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.477...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sW85wsPeJ3ILWVQVLnp9GTQ!2e0

A hell of a lot of work was happening in the Battersea Power Station site today, but my phone had run out of battery so no photos.

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scalatrava89

· #6 · Apr 29, 2014

It's like the Euston Arch all over again. Admittedly the Marco Polo House arch didn't share the quality of Euston but come on!

hno:

stevekeiretsu

· #7 · Apr 29, 2014

it's nice to see something deserving meet the wrecking ball for a change :lol:

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ThatOneGuy

· #8 · Apr 29, 2014

Nice!

The old building looked like a theatre set from Las Vegas :lol:

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gravesVpelli

· #9 · Apr 30, 2014

The former building was all kitsch and with attempts to copy Johnson & Burgee's 'Chippendale Chair' was a cheap pastiche. The new apartment block looks totally inkeeping with the park side and I'm sure will sell well. Parts of the new project have some similarities with the Watergate Building in shape and tiered structure. An improvement. I like it.

Storeys

· #10 · Apr 30, 2014

The Cruise Ships

kerouac1848

· #11 · Apr 30, 2014

bonquiqui said:
What a shame the QVC building has to suffer for this the replacement is nothing special but greed and overpriced flats with no soul.

Are you for feel? MPH looked like a cross between a light-industrial office unit and some kind of American themed store in a retail park, the tacky 'arch' front being the only thing that gave it some degree of uniqueness. It was cheap POMO rubbish that, compared to present needs, poorly used space in an inner London zone. For the all problems of yet more semi-luxury flats being built, at least the new build makes more optimal use of its land.

SF-02

· #12 · Apr 30, 2014

Good replacement. A bit tacky perhaps at first site but I like it. Love a curve.

delores

· #13 · May 1, 2014

The strange reddish plastic cladding at the rear is completely uneccesary otherwise they look good.

potto

· #14 · May 1, 2014

far superior do that awful blue plastic cladding the huge block next to it sticks up over the railway line!

delores

· #15 · May 1, 2014

potto said:
far superior do that awful blue plastic cladding the huge block next to it sticks up over the railway line!

Agree the pearlescent bluish purple ghastliness takes some beating for totally inappropriate cladding, luckily the residents of battersea power station and rail users are probably the only people who will see it in the future.

stevekeiretsu

· #16 · May 3, 2014

went to battersea park today so got these while i was passing

Marco Polo House demolition from Battersea Park station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Marco Polo House demolition by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Marco Polo House demolition by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Marco Polo House demolition by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Marco Polo House demolition by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

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SE9

Discussion Starter · #17 · May 4, 2014

Iconic 1980s building Marco Polo House demolished to make way for new flats
Evening Standard
30 April 2014

Work has begun on demolishing iconic 1980s building Marco Polo House to make way for new flats, shops and offices.

The postmodernist building in south London, designed by Ian Pollard, was built in 1987 and formerly used as the QVC TV studio.

As of this morning, a large section of the structure had been demolished leaving only the iconic glass atrium which previously housed designer lifts. The demolition work officially began on Monday.

Developers Berkley Homes are creating skyscrapers on the site in Queenstown Road, Battersea, which will incorporate 456 new apartments and 1,200 square metres of commercial space.

It will be renamed Nine Elms Vista, forming part of the regeneration of the area in south London which began with restoring nearby Battersea Power Station.

The building was known for its kitsch marble arches and grey façade, with the press deeming it a “high-tech glass cathedral” when it was first created.

It was first occupied by The Observer and BSKYB, before QVC sold it for £60m to a Russian consortium in 2006.

But the demolition has drawn a mixed response from passers-by, with some devastated to see its destruction while others are happy to see the back of it.

Alex Croston, of Battersea, said: “Good grief, someone’s demolishing Marco Polo House, old ITV digital building by Battersea Power Station. Hallelujah.”

Rowan Moore, architecture critic for The Observer, wrote on Twitter: “Marco Polo House, 80s classic, former home of Observer, is coming down. Quick, list it.”

When the new design was first announced Ian Pollard told the Evening Standard he was not opposed to the new design but said: “Marco was a fun building. It was quite iconic at the time and some people still say it is."

gravesVpelli

· #18 · May 4, 2014

Typical journalistic ****. The word, 'Iconic' is used loosely and practically for everything these days. And to call a building of 14 storeys a 'skyscraper' is emotionally charged nonsense. The plastic building was a parody of earlier more impressive builds. Flats are more appropriate here but I wouldn't pay much to overlook rail lines with trains passing every few minutes throughout the day.

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Interstat

· #19 · May 4, 2014

gravesVpelli said:
Typical journalistic ****. The word, 'Iconic' is used loosely and practically for everything these days. And to call a building of 14 storeys a 'skyscraper' is emotionally charged nonsense. The plastic building was a parody of earlier more impressive builds. Flats are more appropriate here but I wouldn't pay much to overlook rail lines with trains passing every few minutes throughout the day.

Original building wasn't actually plastic clad - was neoparies, an expensive crystallised glass material that is often used in place of marble as it's tougher.

Interstat

· #20 · May 4, 2014 (Edited)

I agree the old building had become obsolete, but I still liked the design and think that the new development is very bland in comparison.

They should've at least incorporated some kind of reference to MPH, like the broken pediment or something.

The new scheme doesn't look like it's built to last more than another 25 years, like much of the buildings along Queenstown road. It's all cheap and throwaway architecture like most of these high density housing developments have been since the 50s!

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