Khan has overruled Southwark Council to approve a new twenty story building in Bermondsey, writes Jack Friend…
Almost two years after councillors went against officers’ advice and rejected an earlier incarnation of the scheme London mayor Khan called in the application and last week signed off the proposals for the SC1 Life Science and Innovation District, subject to the completion of a Section 106 planning obligation agreement.
SC1 is a collaboration between King’s Health Partners, Lambeth Council, Southwark Council, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation. It aims to create a “global quarter of high-impact healthcare innovation”.
The site on St Thomas Street by London Bridge Station is currently a popular bar and retail pop-up space.
Vinegar Yard: developer comes back with even taller tower after plans rejected last year
The initial planning permission was rejected in June 2020 for its height and overshadowing effect on nearby housing and heritage sites. That building would have been 85.8 metres at the highest. The new plans show a new proposed maximum height of 97.1metres, decreasing in height from west to east. The building has the same number of storeys as they originally proposed, but according to the developers the higher ceilings in the new plans are there to accommodate the requirement needed for medical use, and the retention of a warehouse on the site.
The revised version of the scheme will deliver 8,207 square metres of office floorspace and more than 13,500 sqaure metres of floorspace for either medical activities or research and development. Other changes sought by Khan following Southwark councillors’ rejection of the original scheme included removing a proposed live music venue and boosting affordable workspace from 1,200 square metres to 3,067 square metres.
Peter Ward, Director of Estate Development for Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, said: “SC1 as a whole, and Vinegar Yard as a part of it, will bring very real benefits to the Trust, the University and to our patients, students, staff and communities. Growing the stock of space suitable for healthcare and medical research will give more people access to clinical trials and improve environments in which patients are treated.”
The development will help create over an estimated 1,400 jobs and expand training opportunities for 300 people.
The building at 9 Fanning Street was initially meant to be demolished in the original plan, but this will now be converted with the ground floor being used as space for retail. The first floor will be used to create a community space, which will host an arts and education ‘curated annual programme of events’. Developer CIT says this space will be provided at a peppercorn rent in perpetuity.
Director at CIT, Ewen Puffett, said on the approved plans: “We welcome the decision by the Mayor of London to approve the application for Vinegar Yard, a truly transformative development that will unlock this site’s potential as a place for health and creativity. It will drive improvements to health and wealth across the area, creating jobs and contributing to London’s post-Covid recovery.”