Homes and New Cultural Space, South Bank Development, Architects, English Architecture

Nine Elms Homes in South Bank

Approved Plans for London Development design by Grid Architects and Maccreanor Lavington

18 Jun 2014

Nine Elms Homes in South Bank, London

Design: Grid Architects and Maccreanor Lavington

Christies Fine Arts Warehouse to make way for new homes in Nine Elms

Wandsworth Council has approved plans to replace the Christies Fine Arts Warehouse in Nine Elms with a mixed use development including 510 homes and new cultural space.

The site is located in the heart of Nine Elms on the South Bank, London’s biggest regeneration project, which includes the new US Embassy, Battersea Power Station and New Covent Garden Market.

Plans to redevelop the 2.7 acre site were approved last night (June 17) by the council’s planning applications committee.

The proposal, by developer Bellway Homes, would see the warehouse demolished and replaced with two new buildings which at the highest point would be 19 storeys. The new blocks would be predominantly brick but with each having a different architectural treatment.

They would provide a total of 510 homes including 76 affordable properties and 114 set aside as private rent units which would be offered to local people on extended tenancies of up to five years.

As part of the planning application the homebuilder has agreed to pay an additional £10m to Wandsworth Council for providing ‘off-site’ affordable housing in the local area.

The scheme would also create 1,352 square metres of new commercial floorspace and 1,122 square metres of community use – some of which will be offered to not-for-profit cultural organsiations at 50 per cent of market rates.

A new outdoor public space would be created on the site, including part of the new Nine Elms Linear Park which will run all the way from Vauxhall Cross to Battersea Power Station.

The application also comes with a £9m contribution to extending the Northern Line into Nine Elms and other improvements to the area’s infrastructure.

Planning applications committee chairman Sarah McDermott said:

“This is great news for Nine Elms. We are seeing more and more warehousing and industrial land making way for new homes, jobs and cultural attractions that will bring the area to life.

“This development provides another portion of the new linear park which will run right through Nine Elms as well as £9m for improving local infrastructure. There will be hundreds of new homes built including affordable rent and shared ownership properties.

“The scheme also provides some of Wandsworth’s first homes built specifically for the private rent sector. They will be reserved for local residents and offered on tenancies of up to five years to give more security than can usually be found on the open market.”

About Nine Elms on the South Bank

Nine Elms on the South Bank is one of Europe’s biggest regeneration programmes.

More than 18,000 new homes will be built and enough business space to support up to 25,000 jobs.

A further 22,000 construction jobs will be created during the area-wide building programme. Wandsworth Council if helping unemployed local residents secure these valuable opportunities via a dedicated recruitment service.

The Northern Line Extension will provide the major transport artery which makes the new Nine Elms possible. An infrastructure project championed by Wandsworth Council, it has now won financial support from the Government and is working its way through the planning system.

A brand new public fresh produce market and centre for London’s foodies will be created at New Covent Garden Market.

An entire town centre is being formed within and around a rejuvenated Battersea Power Station.

Every new development will add to the area’s life and vitality with new cafes, bars, restaurants, cinemas, pubs, shops, boutiques, an auditorium, galleries, event venues and cultural attractions.

A new stretch of the Thames riverside walk will run the full length of the regeneration area, extending the cultural offer of the world famous South Bank through Vauxhall and all the way to Battersea Park.

An ambitious cycle strategy seeks to create a network of up to 23 interconnected routes including separate bike lanes on main roads like Nine Elms Lane and Battersea Park Road.

A new pedestrian and cycle bridge is proposed to cross the Thames from near the site of the new US Embassy and to link with the established communities of Pimlico on the north bank of the river.

Major developments now on site include Riverlight, Embassy Gardens, Battersea Power Station and the new US Embassy.