Developers to boost height of Vauxhall towers scheme to 70 storeys after replacing lead architect

The new development team behind the Vauxhall Square site in south London have revealed plans to boost the scheme’s towers to 70 storeys after appointing a new design team.

Development partners Cedarstone Capital Partners and Bmor have replaced Allies & Morrison with Pilbrow & Partners as lead architect as part of a radical rethink of the long-delayed scheme which would make its towers 20 storeys taller than the existing consent.

Fresh plans currently being worked up for site on the border of Vauxhall and Nine Elms would consist of four towers of 16, 19, 41 and 70 storeys containing 1,200 homes, 600 student beds and 1,250 co-living units.

The scheme, which would be centred around a 4,200 sq m landscaped park which is being billed as the “heart of a new centre for Vauxhall”, would also contain a 240-room hotel, 2,700 sq m of office space and 5,000 sq m of retail and leisure space.

The developer team and its backers Cheyne Capital Management and GFH Partners have already carried out two rounds of consultation with local residents and are preparing to reveal more details about the project in the coming weeks, with a full planning application expected to be lodged with the council this summer.

Under early plans shared with Lambeth council this month, the scheme’s largest building would be by far the tallest in the Nine Elms tower cluster and one of the tallest residential buildings in the country.

The 1.46ha site, bounded by Parry Street to the north, Wandsworth Road to the west, Bondway to the east and the railway line to the east and south, has been vacant and hoarded for several years after passing through a succession of owners.

The scheme’s redesign comes 12 years after Lambeth council approved initial Allies & Morrison’s original proposals, designed for property developer CLS Holdings, which consisted of a total of nine buildings including two 50-storey towers.

A portion of this site was later sold to student accommodation developer Urbanest, which appointed Glenn Howells Architects, now known as Howells, in 2014 to design a 32-storey tower containing 454 student beds which was completed in 2018.

The rest of the site, one of the largest vacant sites in Lambeth, remained undeveloped with CLS carrying out minor works on the site in order to lawfully maintain its planning consent.

The site was later bought by Chinese developer R&F, which sold it to Hong Kong rival Far East Consotrium for £95.7m in 2022. Cedarstone Capital Partners and Bmor, backed by GFH Partners purchased the site with financing from Cheyne Capital last year.

The project team for the new scheme includes planning consultant DP9, project manager Trigon and transport consultant Velocity.

Allies & Morrison has been contacted for comment.