Resi towers lopped and third block added, as V&A considers second site at Olympic Park
黑洞社区 understands the schedule for the 拢1.3bn Stratford Waterfront scheme has been pushed back by at least a year by a redesign.
A planning application is now expected to be submitted in a year鈥檚 time, with completion expected in autumn 2022. Originally an opening date of 2020/21 was targeted.
The architects, led by Allies & Morrison, returned to the drawing board after critics complained the scheme would impinge on protected views of St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral 鈥� following the row over the damage done by SOM鈥檚 under-construction Manhattan Loft Gardens flats.
The revision was also prompted by the V&A鈥檚 need to find a new home for its collections currently stored at Blythe House in Olympia which the government is selling.
A public consultation is due to be launched next week but the biggest changes will be Allies & Morrison鈥檚 two residential towers becoming three much shorter buildings, though they will remain the tallest part of the scheme.
The tallest tower has been lopped from 47 storeys to about 20. The number of flats is also expected to drop slightly from 650, though the final configuration is still being worked on.
A source close to the project said the client, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), had given over more land to the residential element in the northern part of the site to accommodate three instead of two buildings heading down towards Stratford鈥檚 town centre.
The protected view issue is not limited to the towers so the designs of other buildings on the site, formerly known as Olympicopolis, are also being revised.
This includes the V&A East building which is being designed by O鈥橠onnell & Tuomey and will include space for the Smithsonian. As a result the V&A has been working closely with the LLDC to consider its options and come up with a revised brief.
It is understood a decision has not yet been taken on whether this will mean extending the footprint of the museum鈥檚 existing plot or adding a second site, possibly at Hawkins Brown鈥檚 Here East 鈥� the former press and media centre for the 2012 Olympics that was built by Carillion.
A V&A spokesperson said: 鈥淲e continue to work closely with LLDC as an active partner on the revised masterplan for Stratford Waterfront.
鈥淥ur plans for a jointly curated space with the Smithsonian continue to develop, as does our close collaboration with our other partners on the project: Sadler鈥檚 Wells, UAL London College of Fashion and UCL.
鈥淪eparately, the government鈥檚 decision to sell [the] Blythe House [storage facility at Olympia] has presented the V&A with an extraordinary opportunity: to make more of our world-class collections accessible to the public, and to do so in innovative and engaging ways.
鈥淭his has led us to redefine the ambition of the V&A East project; putting our collections at the heart of an expanded brief. This work is ongoing, and we look forward to making announcements when it is complete.鈥�
A major announcement is promised in January.
Others working on the Stratford Waterfront scheme, which will also contain a campus for the University of Arts London and a 550-seat theatre for Sadler鈥檚 Wells dance studio, include Arquitecturia Camps Felip and engineer Buro Happold.
This team is also expected to carry out the detailed design work on the project, while the LLDC is expected to go out to market for contractors in summer next year for the entire project, with work hoped to start as soon as possible after planning has been approved.
The LLDC declined to comment.
No comments yet