The prominence of the site drew intense scrutiny from the Planning & Conservation Officers at Southwark Council who made it clear that planning consent would only be granted if the proposed scheme was of exceptional design quality. Our response was to design a mixed use building incorporating 7 apartments and a ground floor restaurant that ‘turned the corner’ by rising from 3 to 5 storeys. The scheme won the support of Southwark Council:
‘The composition of the proposed building would make a very bold contemporary statement, but without appearing overly prominent in terms of its visual impact; this is an extremely difficult design-resolution to achieve and is considered that the subtlety that is inherent within the composition and detailing has achieved this’.
The design achieved the highest possible environmental standards was described as, ‘adding vitality to the streetscape’.
