Five blocks near art deco Tube station given all-clear on appeal

BPTW Southgate 3

BPTW’s scheme includes five blocks and three towers close to Southgate’s grade II-listed tube station

BPTW has been given the green light for a cluster of mixed-use towers in north London following an appeal.

Concerns had been raised about the scheme’s impact on Charles Holden’s grade II-listed Southgate tube station.

The proposals include a total of five blocks including three towers up to 17 storeys, providing 216 homes and 1,720sq m of commercial space.

They will occupy a 0.56ha site adjacent to Southgate Circus conservation area and close to Holden’s circular art deco Tube station which opened in 1933.

BPTW Southgate 1

The proposals include 216 homes and 1,720sq m of commercial space across five blocks

Despite the scheme’s May 2019 planning application being backed by officers at Enfield council, the GLA and Historic England, local councillors and campaigners had raised concerns about its impact on the conservation area and station.

Initially refused in June 2020, it was sent back to the planning inspectorate at appeal in September 2021 and was finally approved late last month.

Southgate station

The plans had received objections because of their proximity to Charles Holden’s 1933 tube station

Commenting on the appeal decision, inspector Paul Griffiths said that while the scheme was much taller than the station complex, it “would not seek to align itself architecturally with it, but would sit apart, as a well-designed complex in its own right”.

BPTW Southgate 2

Griffiths also said the inclusion of a public route through the site connecting two nearby roads with a Marks & Spencer store was a “firm basis for the proposal”.

The scheme will require the demolition of a series of 1980s office buildings and a multi-storey car park, which BPTW said were “substandard” and in need of regeneration.

BPTW Southagte 4

The scheme will require the demolition of a series of 1980s office blocks and a multi-storey car park