> A US-Korean development consortium has got the planning green light for a trio of towers at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge in London. The landmark £1bn scheme of around 1 million square feet involves building two residential towers of 40 and 22 storeys and an office building reaching 45 storeys and topping out at nearly 200m.
> Developer Hines, alongside the National Pension Service of Korea, bought the 18 Blackfriars Road site for £208m in 2021. The approval, which was secured working with architects Foster + Partners, and Lipton Rogers, allows Hines to breathe new life into a two-acre brownfield site that has remained undeveloped for 20 years. 18 Blackfriars Road is designed to be fossil fuel free, 100% electric and Net Zero Carbon in operation, with 95% of the site’s heat demand served by ground source heat pumps that share, store and offset energy.
> Beyond decarbonisation, it is set to deliver affordable homes, free workspace for local businesses and entrepreneurs and a cultural hub for locals as it aims be the first high-rise scheme in the UK to achieve the WELL Community Gold Standard, which certifies developments that support health and wellbeing. The Podium is an interconnected mixed-use element with retail and cafe frontages within The Rotunda and along Stamford Street and Blackfriars Road.
> Ross Blair, senior managing director and country head of Hines UK, said: “We believe our plans for 18 Blackfriars will set a new standard in premium quality workspace in London, both fully integrated into its hyper-local community and seated right at the heart of our capital city. “Bringing this scheme to life underlines our long-term conviction in London as a thriving, global centre for culture, education and business.”
> Hines is understood to be aiming to start work on the four year long build programme this year. The scheme would be among the tallest in an emerging cluster of towers at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge. The professional team includes Lipton Rogers as project manager, Arup as structural and MEP engineer, Alinea as cost consultant for the commercial and Gardier & Theobald as cost consultant for residential.
Interesting how that area south of the river (Bankside) has become known as Blackfriars.
Blackfriars is the area north of the Thames, located in the City of London.
Nice looking development, this area is currently waste land right now
It won’t happen, but should be UK residents with priority on purchase
Another little cluster of skyscrapers emerging there. Like it.
looks like Hudson Yards in NYC
Finally, some affordable housing being built
I like the ambition, the use, the clustering it’s going to do, I like the greenery on the main building itself, I like the environmental credentials (I haven’t dug into those but on the surface they seem great). The design / massing itself is quite meh – bulky and inelegant. But overall a big fan!
Great. More space devoted to foreign millionaires while we rot in mouldering council homes. Nice one.
I wonder how affordable the affordable housing in those two new tower blocks will be?
In my 20+ years in London I’ve worked within 200m of the aerial shot, so know the area really well. I’m all for it, that site has gone unused for years. Would prefer a park or something, but that’s not happening these days. Considering how much unused office and retail space there is around here, more residential is no harm either.
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> A US-Korean development consortium has got the planning green light for a trio of towers at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge in London. The landmark £1bn scheme of around 1 million square feet involves building two residential towers of 40 and 22 storeys and an office building reaching 45 storeys and topping out at nearly 200m.
> Developer Hines, alongside the National Pension Service of Korea, bought the 18 Blackfriars Road site for £208m in 2021. The approval, which was secured working with architects Foster + Partners, and Lipton Rogers, allows Hines to breathe new life into a two-acre brownfield site that has remained undeveloped for 20 years. 18 Blackfriars Road is designed to be fossil fuel free, 100% electric and Net Zero Carbon in operation, with 95% of the site’s heat demand served by ground source heat pumps that share, store and offset energy.
> Beyond decarbonisation, it is set to deliver affordable homes, free workspace for local businesses and entrepreneurs and a cultural hub for locals as it aims be the first high-rise scheme in the UK to achieve the WELL Community Gold Standard, which certifies developments that support health and wellbeing. The Podium is an interconnected mixed-use element with retail and cafe frontages within The Rotunda and along Stamford Street and Blackfriars Road.
> Ross Blair, senior managing director and country head of Hines UK, said: “We believe our plans for 18 Blackfriars will set a new standard in premium quality workspace in London, both fully integrated into its hyper-local community and seated right at the heart of our capital city. “Bringing this scheme to life underlines our long-term conviction in London as a thriving, global centre for culture, education and business.”
> Hines is understood to be aiming to start work on the four year long build programme this year. The scheme would be among the tallest in an emerging cluster of towers at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge. The professional team includes Lipton Rogers as project manager, Arup as structural and MEP engineer, Alinea as cost consultant for the commercial and Gardier & Theobald as cost consultant for residential.
Interesting how that area south of the river (Bankside) has become known as Blackfriars.
Blackfriars is the area north of the Thames, located in the City of London.
Nice looking development, this area is currently waste land right now
It won’t happen, but should be UK residents with priority on purchase
Another little cluster of skyscrapers emerging there. Like it.
looks like Hudson Yards in NYC
Finally, some affordable housing being built
I like the ambition, the use, the clustering it’s going to do, I like the greenery on the main building itself, I like the environmental credentials (I haven’t dug into those but on the surface they seem great). The design / massing itself is quite meh – bulky and inelegant. But overall a big fan!
Great. More space devoted to foreign millionaires while we rot in mouldering council homes. Nice one.
I wonder how affordable the affordable housing in those two new tower blocks will be?
In my 20+ years in London I’ve worked within 200m of the aerial shot, so know the area really well. I’m all for it, that site has gone unused for years. Would prefer a park or something, but that’s not happening these days. Considering how much unused office and retail space there is around here, more residential is no harm either.
.