Tuesday 11 May 2010

Potters Field : New Proposal Review

Surrounded by some of London’s most famous landmarks, including Tower Bridge, City Hall, the Tower of London and the Square Mile, Potters field is a prime location for development.

On Monday 10th of May, I headed down to a public exhibition organised by Berkley home to showcase the latest design plans for the site. I was hopeful that after such a long wait to see the final plans they would be worthy of such a prestigious site.

Way back in December 2010 Squire & Partners released a night time render of their new proposal, it resembled a mini Tate modern, with a black exterior face and colour balconies it was disappointing to say the least. Those who have followed this contentious site will know that the previous design proposal by Ian Ritchie was a series of cylindrical tapering towers with landscaped gardens. This was proposed back in 2003 and won full support from CABE (the Government organisation for Architecture).
2008 and it was clear this design had been dropped even though it had gained planning permission, and still does as the developers were keen to remind me.




My expectations and face immediately dropped when I walked inside to be confronted with a high resolution glossy render of the same design as I had seen a year ago yet in daylight.
The black façade of the residential block has been changed to a light brick work design, the rest of the design remains relatively unchanged. Stepping back to really take in the design it is obvious that every available square foot has been built on. The almost brutalist quality of this design just doesn’t fit well, it tries so hard to be submissive to the Tower Bridge that it actually sits uncomfortably and creates a negative public realm.

When looking around the proposal model, it is worrying to see the amount of sheer blank walls that block direct public access to the proposal and back to the Thames. Cultural space on the river is always warmly welcomed, you only need to look back over the last 15 years to see how much the South Bank and Bankside have transformed thanks to Cultural and Arts facilities.
Disappointingly the new proposal includes a reduction in cultural and retail space that are essential to connecting this project into the fabric of SE1. The genius of the original “darleks” (as they have been dubbed by the media) was their use of height allowing for better public interaction and access. The gardens surrounding the towers were integrated into the park located in-front. Whilst tourists and locals would have been able to walk around each tower and interact with the retail units at the ground level.



The 2010 proposal is applying from planning permission towards the end of May; it will include 3 residential blocks and 1 residential tower containing 3 penthouses. At the exhibition the representatives seemed keen to talk about the cultural space and the light box at the top of the development which similarly to Tabard square in Borough will rotate through a night lighting scheme.

Flashing lights and a cultural space that is hard to find don’t really cut the mustard on a such a vital site. It has all the characteristics of a gated development, impenetrable to tourists and locals. With such history and architecture surrounding the site it was always going to be difficult to design a proposal that pleased and fitted.

Just before I left my feedback I was reminded that the original scheme does have planning permission, and that initial construction works had taken place. Therefore it was highly viable that the original proposal could still be built.

I had to wonder, has this design been made purposely bland and unwelcoming to show the original proposal in a better light to win around public support? Or had the negative comments from local residents resulted in Berkley homes having a lack of confidence in their design and therefore resulting in a compromised, residential block not all to dissimilar from projects currently rising in Bermondsey spa?

One thing is for sure, neither project is perfectly suited for this location but I do respect and warmly welcome the extra public space the Ian Ritchie original proposal included. I hope this current incarnation is denied planning permission, in a World city like London where we have so many gifted architects and creative talent we must be able to come up with something better than this?



*It is also worth having a look at Ian Ritchie’s 1995 proposal for the Royal Opera House to be located on Potters Field.

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