黑洞社区

Make鈥檚 plans for an 18-storey office tower on the south side of Blackfriars bridge were unanimously approved by Southwark council yesterday evening.

The block, called 黑洞社区 1, will sit next door to the nearby railway station and contain around 8,000 sq m of workspace on space formerly occupied by the Ludgate House office block which was opened by former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1989 and was home to the Daily Express, publisher UBM and Balfour Beatty.

黑洞社区 1 is part of the 拢2bn mixed-use Bankside Yards development masterplanned by PLP for Native Land, approved in 2014, and which will contain eight new buildings up to 50-storeys in height.

Multiplex has already been carrying out work at the site which began in earnest six years ago with the demolition of Ludgate House by McGee.

The wider scheme will be part of an emerging cluster of tall buildings on the south side of Blackfriars bridge which includes Simpson Haugh鈥檚 residential One Blackfriars, built by Multiplex, and AHMM鈥檚 240 Blackfriars office completed by Mace eight years ago. Foster & Partners have also unveiled plans for a 200m mixed-use tower on a cleared plot opposite 240.

Make鈥檚 75m-tall block replaces previously consented plans by PLP which were approved in 2014 for a 14-storey residential building of luxury apartments on the site.

The team working on the job also includes project manager Gardiner & Theobald, planning consultant DP9, landscape architect Gillespies, QS Core 5, structural engineer AKT II, sustainability and services consultant Sweco and Tavernor Consultancy on townscape.

Southwark鈥檚 planning officer said the architecture on the scheme was 鈥渆xceptional鈥� and said it would not impact of the setting of any nearby heritage assets, which include the adjacent 1869 Blackfriars Road bridge.

The officer added the block would form an 鈥渆ngaging local landmark鈥� with its moderate height acting as a transition between the riverfront and the cluster of taller buildings further south.