Architects Journal: Astudio gets planning for 781-home Westminster estate redevelopment
Astudio has been given planning permission for a 781-home redevelopment of the Ebury Bridge Estate by Chelsea Bridge in west London
The existing 1930s buildings will be replaced by nine new blocks ranging from eight to 19 storeys tall by Westminster Council and its contractor Bouygues. Demolition is currently under way, after the local authority controversially gave itself permission to begin ahead of a planning consent.
The hybrid application approved by Westminster Council last night (20 April) contained detailed plans for two blocks, of 17 and 18 storeys, providing 226 homes. These will be built in the first phase of development, while other cleared space will be used for ‘meanwhile uses’.
These include a row of colourful two-storey timber units by Jan Kattein Architects, which will provide 505m² of workspace and other community facilities.
The planning application by astudio also included a design code, which it pledged to use when designing the details for the remaining six blocks. The code sets out several constraints for the future blocks, including composition of façades and the metalwork to be used on balconies.
The new development will provide 53 per cent affordable housing by habitable rooms, with a split of 66 per cent social rent to 34 per cent intermediate housing. Of the new flats, which are not replacing existing stock, 50 per cent will be affordable, 60-70 per cent of these designated intermediate rent and 30-40 per cent social rent.
The planning decision follows protracted and contentious work on redeveloping Ebury Bridge Estate. Residents voted for initial designs by HTA Design in 2013, but the scheme was later dropped as Westminster Council was unable to find a development partner.
However, some residents had already moved out of the estate by 2017, leaving parts of the estate empty.
Gabriel Warshafsky, director of projects at Jan Kattein Architects, has previously told the AJ that Edgson House had ‘become somewhat notorious among residents of the wider estate for drug-dealing and other antisocial behaviour – [and] as a result, some residents had been actively campaigning for its demolition.’
Nevertheless, in September 2019 Westminster Council was criticised by now-deputy London mayor Tom Copley for using ‘underhand and unscrupulous tactics’ to demolish parts of the estate using permitted development before a planning application had been approved.
At the time, a spokesperson for Westminster council responded that it was ‘extraordinary that a Labour London Assembly member is trying to stop this project, especially given the shortage of affordable housing in the capital’.
Planners at Westminster Council described the astudio scheme as having ‘a well-considered design, including an appropriate and rational arrangement of layout, height and massing’.
They added: ‘The quality of architecture, materials and public realm established within the design code and set out within the detailed scheme is of a high standard.’
Astudio worked on the designs with planning and multi-disciplinary consultant Arup, landscape architects Arup and Levitt Bernstein, and project manager and quantity surveyor Gardner & Theobold.
Richard Hyams, co-founder and chief executive of astudio, said: ‘We are delighted to achieve this milestone for such an important regeneration project – one of the largest and most significant in south Westminster for an entire generation.
‘The quality of our design has been driven by a truly visionary Westminster client and with the local residents have actively engaged with the design team to set new standards for estate regeneration.’
Debbie Jackson, Westminster City Council’s executive director for growth, planning and housing, said: ‘The development of the Ebury Bridge Estate will see more than 400 additional new homes built.
‘The new homes will use 90 per cent less carbon compared to the existing estate and it will be a low-car scheme. The right to return for residents is guaranteed for all secure tenants and resident leaseholders.’
Images: (From L to R) 2,3,6,7,8 Haze , 1,4,5 astudio