London Bridge scheme the second to receive approval in emerging cluster of towers
Pilbrow & Partners has been given the green light for a 27-storey office tower next to the Shard.
Southwark council voted in favour of the mixed-use scheme for Dutch developer Edge last week.
The win will provide the practice some consolation following communities secretary Robert Jenrick’s decision to reject its highly controversial proposals to redevelop the former London Fire Brigade HQ on the Albert Embankment in Lambeth.
The practice claims that the tower will be the most sustainable building in the capital.
It said that the office, which will be clad in a “high performance” glazed terracotta facade designed to moderate internal temperatures, is the first major London scheme designed to achieve Breeam Outstanding and Well Platinum certification.
It will require the demolition of Becket House, a 1980s building which has been occupied by a Home Office immigration centre.
The scheme is the second to be given the green light on the St Thomas Street East Design Framework, a planned cluster of towers to the east of the Shard.
The tallest of the group, a 39-storey KPF-designed student accommodation scheme for developer Greystar, was granted approval in 2019.
But a 20-storey commercial building for CIT, also designed by KPF, was rejected by the council last year.
And a decison has still not been made on a lower-rise Renzo Piano-designed scheme for Seller despite being recommended for approval last June.
Foster & Partners has also lodged plans for a 22-storey office block opposite the Shard.
In May, Pilbrow was given the green light for the first homes on the huge Earl’s Court development.
The 51-home scheme for the Earls Court Development Company, a joint venture between Delancey and Transport for London, is located on a prominent corner plot on Old Brompton Road facing Brompton cemetery.
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