07 Vauxhall Square, item 6. PDF 626 KB - Lambeth Council

steps up from this northern building with a series of landscaped, south facing
terraces. The affect is to fully integrate the retained terrace into the new
enhanced streetscape, whilst producing a new animated pedestrian route linking
Vauxhall Square to the new Nine Elms Park across Wandsworth Road.
8.45 The ‘steps’ at its southern end would relate positively to the materials of the new
gateway buildings into the Square and the brick masonry walls and punched
windows of the historic terrace and its scale, and would enhance its setting.
8.46 The towers are well spaced in this view and two elevations of each tower would
be visible. The building would be well modelled by sunlight and shade, and the
horizontal bands of reconstituted stone at each floor would project slightly from
the face of each tower providing them with a distinctive slender silhouette.
8.47 Officers have assessed the setting of the adjoining listed buildings on
Wandsworth Road and it is considered that the development would be
significantly changed by this redevelopment. This is inevitable given that
Vauxhall is identified as suitable for tall buildings. The new development would
be in stark contrast to the listed buildings but officers do not consider the impact
to be harmful. The introduction of the ‘book end’ building means that the listed
terrace would read much more as part of the scheme as a whole. This is
supported by English Heritage.
8.48 Cumulative Impact of the Development
8.49 In line with the objectives of the London Plan, the current proposals seek to
maximise the development density of the site due to the ideal proximity of the
transport interchange at Vauxhall while balancing the public realm opportunities
and needs of the Linear park and Vauxhall, and taking into consideration the
impact on local and wider townscape views.The massing, height and locations
of the tall building elements on the site have been developed over a period of
many months, co-ordinated in conjunction with the emerging proposals for many
adjacent sites to provide a coordinated massing concept for the Vauxhall
Cluster.
8.50 As the cluster has evolved, and the design of the scheme has evolved alongside
this, officers consider that the proposed height of two towers at 168 metres
provides an appropriate addition to the cluster. They remain lower than the St
George Tower, but also lower than the One Nine Elms scheme. Although the
One Nine Elms proposal is part short, part taller (two towers being proposed)
than the St George Tower, the heights of the two towers as part of Vauxhall
Square should sit lower than the shoulder of the St George Tower. The Vauxhall
cluster form now illustrated in the cumulative views in the Townscape,
Conservation and Visual Impact Assessment (TCVIA) document illustrates a
mix of building forms with a range of heights creating an interesting and varied
skyline from different perspective view points. The two Vauxhall Square Towers
are straight forward square plan forms yet very slender in their vertical
proportion. They add positively to the emerging cluster and provide a marker for
the new major public square proposed for Vauxhall town centre.
8.51 A Vauxhall cluster workshop facilitated by CABE and attended by London