Cabe slams Foster + Partners' Shoreditch scheme

Cabe has slammed Foster + Partners' plans for a mixed-use development in Shoreditch. The review body said the designs for Bishop's Place were too "dense" and not in keeping with the surrounding buildings.

As a result Cabe has recommended that planning permission not be granted to the scheme, which is being developed by Hammerson.

Cabe said there needed be a greater mix of uses within the blocks. It said designs were too similar to the neighbouring "sanitised and corporate" City and would inhibit the "richness" of South Shoreditch, an area which is known for its artistic character.

It said: “In our view, the failure to relate to the inherent grain or character of South Shoreditch in terms of use and scale represents a fundamental flaw in the proposals. This needs further examination before CABE can lend its full support to the scheme."

Cabe also criticised the schemes' open spaces and said routes were difficult to use. It said: “The microclimate at ground level for both spaces may prove inhospitable, dissuading people from lingering in either of these spaces.”