Amendments show influence of Heatherwick Studio’s Humanise campaign on design of 1,800-home scheme’s first phase
Grid Architects has submitted revised plans for the first phase of the 1,800-home redevelopment of the O2 shopping centre in Camden in collaboration with Heatherwick Studio.
The two practices replaced AHMM on the first phase of the hybrid application last year in a reset of the scheme by developer Landsec prompted by the requirement to add second staircases.
The long-delayed redevelopment of HOK’s 1998 shopping centre was first approved in 2023 but has since undergone several design tweaks including increasing the heights of some buildings by two storeys and adding 43 homes to its first phase, which would now deliver just under 700 homes instead of the original 650.
New images show the influence of Heatherwick Studio’s Humanise campaign on the updated plans, which have been amended to provide a “better level of interest at different scale and view ranges”.
Blocks on the first phase have been redrawn with more textured brickwork, a more varied colour palette and more structural variety separating the base, middle and tops of the buildings.
Landsec has also cut the number of affordable homes across the entire scheme from the original 35% to 25%, with the proposed first phase now providing a total of 100 affordable homes instead of 192 as originally proposed.
Planning consultant Newmark wrote to Camden council earlier this month on behalf of Landsec, stating that the viability of the scheme had been “significantly affected by changes to the building regulations surrounding fire safety”.
It added that a proposed rethink of the first phase had presented the opportunity to bring forward some “further enhancements”, which it said included a larger community centre and 400sq m of additional play space.
The project team on the revised scheme includes Grid Architects as lead architect, Heatherwick Studio on additional design, Atkins Realis on costs, Quod on affordable housing, Pell Frischmann on civils and structures, Arup on transport, Buro Happold on MEP and Jensen Hughes on fire.
The original scheme was one of the largest projects in London to add second staircases following Sadiq Khan’s decision in early 2023 to implement the government’s proposed fire safety requirements for tall buildings with immediate effect.
The plans have stoked controversy due to proposed demolition of the O2 shopping centre, which was purchased by Landsec in 2010. The 2023 application received nearly 1,000 letters of objection, with many locals raising concerns about sustainability and the loss of the O2’s retail space which includes a gym, a swimming pool and a large Sainsbury’s.
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