Candys' Chelsea Barracks gets thumbs-up from Cabe

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners' designs for Chelsea Barracks have been given an upbeat review by Cabe's design review panel.

The £1bn Candy & Candy development in west London is a “successful response” to the challenges of the site, said Cabe, and restricted most of its criticism to the quality of the public spaces, which it labelled “not convincing”.

Of the buildings, the review panel said: “The variations in the colour of the blocks appear successful and elegant for the blocks on Chelsea Bridge Road. The skeleton structure and the patinated copper alloy panels could respond well to the Chelsea environment.”

It was less convinced by the brightly coloured buildings at Ebury Bridge Road, which it said lacked the “intricacy and the interest in detail” apparent in the other buildings.

The panel was not supportive either of the scheme's gardens. It said: “The design of the public space on the corner of Chelsea Bridge Road and Pimlico Road is not convincing. The continuation of the tree lined diagonal route from the cafe through to this place severs this space in an unsatisfactory way.”

It also criticised the size of the parking area, suggesting this was “excessive” given the central location and proximity to transport links.

But overall the panel welcomed the “rigorous approach” of the scheme and did not withhold its support.