Doon Street proposals May 2007

Transcription

1 Doon Street proposals May flats surrounding a courtyard with ground level shops 282 flats in a slim 43-storey tower Public swimming pool with shared residential garden above Sports hall, studios, gymnasium and ancillary leisure Rambert Dance Company headquarters and studios Education/offices with ground level shops/café New public square with links to Waterloo Bridge and the ramp to the station

2 introduction The Doon Street site has remained largely derelict for over 50 years. Planning consent has been given for a number of large commercial schemes, but they were never implemented. Now a partnership between Coin Street Community Builders, Greenwich Leisure and Rambert Dance Company is seeking consent for a mixed development which will transform the public realm and secure and sustain community facilities and programmes on a long term basis. These proposals are supported by (amongst others) Sport England, the National Theatre, Tate, Southbank Centre, Kate Hoey MP, South Bank Employers Group, and many local residents. Doon Street site National Theatre IBM ITV Bernie Spain Gardens Gabriel s Wharf Mulberry housing Oxo Tower Wharf Broadwall housing Iroko housing Doon Street site neighbourhood centre King s College Doon Street site CSCB site Doon Street site CSCB objectives for Doon Street CSCB is a development trust and social enterprise which seeks to make the South Bank a better place in which to live, to work and to visit. All members of the company live locally. CSCB bought the derelict 13 acre Coin Street area in 1984 since when we have overseen the completion of the South Bank riverside walkway; the creation of Bernie Spain Gardens and Gabriel s Wharf; the refurbishment of Oxo Tower Wharf, and the building of 220 new homes for people in housing need. CSCB provides a diverse range of arts activities and events in Bargehouse, the.gallery@oxo and through the annual Coin Street festivals. The Coin Street family & children s centre provides an integrated range of family and children s programmes as well as a 46-place (from September a 64-place) nursery. In addition to our general social, environmental and economic objectives, CSCB has agreed specific objectives for the Doon Street site: to create a new public swimming and indoor leisure centre to be owned by Coin Street Centre Trust and managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited as part of a network of new facilities to support the growing residential and working populations of this part of central London; Coin Street site 1984 Coin Street site 1997 to provide a site for Rambert Dance Company to locate its headquarters and three dance studios on London s South Bank in return for providing an ongoing dance education and training programme for the local community; to create sufficient funds to develop the site and to subsidise on-going revenue costs with respect to the public swimming and indoor leisure facilities, local community programmes and CSCB s responsibilities with respect to the public realm; to create a substantial increase in the residential population of the area to support the local economy; Coin Street site 1987 Coin Street riverside walkway Oxo Tower during refurbishment and after to provide commercial floorspace to enhance economic activity in the area; to create an attractive gateway into the Coin Street site with significantly improved public realm, open space and active pedestrian frontages; and to improve accessibility and connections to the various pedestrian routes that converge around the site including Waterloo Bridge, the bullring and Upper Ground. Mulberry housing co-op Palm housing co-op Iroko housing co-op neighbourhood centre under construction

3 public swimming and indoor leisure Rambert Dance Company need In 1999 MORI carried out a survey of South Bank and Bankside residents. A public swimming pool and indoor and outdoor sports facilities were amongst the most wanted facilities for the area. For parents, childcare facilities were a priority. Since that time CSCB has worked with Lambeth and Southwark Councils and two local charities to secure 4 new outdoor sports pitches and a new family & children s centre. The swimming pool and indoor leisure facilities are to be secured as part of the Doon Street development. Hatfields pitches Founded by Marie Rambert in 1926, this is Britain s oldest dance company and leading exponent of modern dance. It has a history of developing exceptional choreographic talent and creating opportunities for work to be seen on a large scale. Collaborations with other art forms are encouraged. Productions are toured in large theatres throughout Britain and overseas for 6 months of the year. The Company has an extensive education programme currently reaching over 6,000 people each year. The Company is, at present, housed in 2 converted houses in Chiswick. The studios are too small, there is no disabled access and many of the facilities are inadequate or non-existent. Coin Street Community Builders has offered Rambert Dance Company a lease at peppercorn rent for part of the Doon Street site in return for running a substantial and on-going community dance programme. Rambert Dance Lilian Baylis School, Lambeth, taking part in Rambert s Moved project in 2006 MORI survey Paris Gardens pitches A team led by Allies & Morrison Architects has designed a new home for Rambert Dance Company on the Doon Street site. The scheme includes: an open and welcoming entrance and exhibition area three large studios one of which will have some seating for small audiences to share work in progress or community initiatives a publicly accessible resource centre for sharing the outstanding dance archive Rambert offices and staff facilities facilities The proposed development includes: 25m 8 lane main pool learner pool 120 station gymnasium 2 multi use studios 4 court sports hall crèche health suite club room café operator The Doon Street swimming and indoor leisure centre will be managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL). GLL is a not for profit social enterprise set up specifically for the benefit of the community. It is the country s most successful leisure trust and now manages some 70 public leisure centres within the M25 area. It has its own staff training college and typically some 80% of staff are recruited locally. The programming of the leisure centre provides specifically for children and young people, people aged 50+, people with disabilities or health problems, local community partners, schools and colleges. The pricing policy removes barriers to participation by providing concessionary rates across a wide range of activities, including inclusive memberships, to appropriate groups and individuals. costs The Doon Street swimming and indoor leisure centre will be one of London s finest but does not come cheap. It will cost some 20 million to build and so that no-one is excluded from using the facilities because of price of entry it will require 412,000p.a. in revenue subsidy. Neither Lambeth nor Southwark Councils have the money to build and operate such a facility in this area so most of the funding will have to be generated by the commercial housing to be built elsewhere on the Doon Street site. daytime view of Doon Street pool housing and commercial We propose including 329 new flats in our Doon Street development. This will significantly increase the local residential population a long term planning goal. It will also reduce the need to commute into Central London, and will strengthen our local economy. Critically, it will generate most of the funds needed to pay for the public swimming and indoor leisure centre and to enable its use to be affordable to all. We propose wrapping the ground floor of the overall development with public uses: shops, cafes and the entrances to the leisure centre, Rambert headquarters, and flats. Above the shops at the Waterloo Bridge end of the site we have included space for education/office use. public realm & context The chief problem in the area is lack of active frontage; the street banners and lighting help to provide colour and light but there is no visual connection into the buildings that line the site. The western side of the site is bounded by the ramp leading up from the bull ring and beyond that the road ramp leading up to the southern end of Waterloo Bridge. There are three coach bays on the ramp and when vehicles are parked they visually obstruct the bridge. The bridge itself is a very elegant structure but the pavement peters out as it meets the roundabout, forcing pedestrians down a ramp. A panel in the balustrade of the bridge has been prepared to allow a stair, ramp or lift to be added; this is located at the northwest corner of the site. Doon Street itself is generally used by service traffic accessing Cornwall House and there is no through route for pedestrians; the street is not overlooked and, late at night, feels insecure. Cornwall Road is a busy street with plenty of interest along either side; however the pavement of the north west section, adjacent to the site, is narrow and unwelcoming. section through proposed Rambert headquarters lack of active frontage along Upper Ground no connection from ramp to west of Doon Street site pavement petering out at southern end of Waterloo Bridge no through route on Doon Street narrow pavement on Cornwall Road blank elevation of the National Theatre

4 previous schemes materials The Doon Street site has a history of permissions for tall buildings. In 1972 planning permission was granted for a hotel tower above a 4 storey podium. In 1974 the Secretary of State granted permission for the development of a 600 bedroom hotel and conference centre. In 1983 Greycoat London Estates obtained consent for offices above a shopping mall on the Doon Street site. The scheme was accepted by Lasdun but criticised for not creating public space. At the same time the Association of Waterloo Groups obtained consent for a mixed use scheme on the Doon Street site. The original scheme for the National Theatre, in 1963, was on Jubilee Gardens, beside a new opera house (subsequently cancelled). Lasdun located the two buildings in front of the Shell Tower. he theatre was then relocated to its present site and Lasdun was later commissioned to design the IBM building, next door. different approaches 1972 Doon Street hotel scheme 1974 Doon Street hotel scheme The National Theatre and Opera House were originally designed with the Shell Tower as a backdrop 1983 Greycoat London Estates Doon Street scheme 1983 Association of Waterloo Groups Doon Street scheme The site is surrounded by buildings made of light coloured masonry including concrete and grey brick (National Theatre); Portland Stone (Royal Festival Hall and the White House) and render (King s College). The Iroko housing scheme to the east is the only exception to this, being made of red brick and grey metal windows. The materials chosen for the new development continue the theme of light coloured masonry with concrete, reconstituted stone and white render. Each building on the terrace has differently articulated details and these are picked out in various self coloured materials such as anodised aluminium for window frames in the high rise flats and yellow patinated copper for the set backs to the courtyard housing. In the new development exposed masonry is modified by various inclusions in each case adding functionality to the material. For example, circular translucent glass lenses set into the stone allow daylight into the swimming pool, giving awareness of the interior but not direct views from the street. All the materials chosen are robust and will weather well; they are appropriate to their context and will last the test of time. courtyard and high rise flats along Upper Ground sports and leisure building along Upper Ground western site commercial / education / retail / restaurant facing public square There are a number of ways in which the site can accommodate the proposed uses, however some basic principles emerge: elevations the key public activities swimming and indoor leisure centre, Rambert Dance Company and retail uses are ideally situated at ground level with the minimum amount of vertical circulation. This will ease access and maximise street level activities; most of the public activities require large span spaces without any accommodation above as they do not easily support loads; residential accommodation will benefit from a higher position which affords views of the river Six new buildings sit side by side forming a terrace of active 20m frontages lining Upper Ground and Doon Street. The general height of the terrace is punctuated by a single building: a slender tower composed of two elements clasped around the 144m lift and stair core, one at 141m and one at 128m above ground. The height and bulk of the terrace steps up in scale from the smaller blocks of housing to the east, forming an intermediate step towards the much bulkier forms of the White House and the Shell International building to the west. Studies were carried out to examine the various uses in different positions. The best arrangement has separate buildings in a terrace with a single element - the high rise apartments - breaking through vertically. The position of this tower is on the axis of IBM and the National Theatre; just the same relationship as the Shell Tower had to the National Opera House and National Theatre in Lasdun s first scheme on Jubilee Gardens Evening Standard plea for indoor sport facilities: the following year the Secretary of State granted consent to the hotel The new tower extends the sequence of tall buildings on the South Bank. The existing towers in the area are generally office buildings on podia. This is a residential building and much more slender in plan. Its shape is emphasised by descending through the terrace to the ground and further enhanced by the core which extends several storeys above the top accommodation level carrying the heat rejection plant. Like the fly towers of the National Theatre this is a visible landmark and one that responds to its Grade II* listed neighbour. elevation Option 1 a wall Option 2 a single tower by Waterloo Bridge Option 4 - view from Somerset House Option 3 twin towers Option 4 a single tower on the IBM / National Theatre axis Option 4 - view from Hungerford Bridge view from northern Embankment

5 site layout and public realm The new development makes several major contributions to the public realm with: active frontages around the entire perimeter and; National Theatre IBM a new square to the west of the site linking to the bull ring ; new link to waterloo bridge upper ground a new vertical connection with lift up to Waterloo Bridge; a pedestrian extension of Doon Street to the ramp at the west; wider pavements along Cornwall Road and Upper Ground; improved hard and soft landscaping and lighting. All the buildings in the terrace are planned to accentuate activities at their ground floor perimeters with main receptions and entrances on Upper Ground. Shops and restaurants provide bookends that wrap around three sides of the terrace, continuing activity at either end of Doon Street. ramp to waterloo roundabout ground floor plan doon street King s College cornwall road north iroko housing November 2005 proposals: view from footbridge in St James s Park At the western end of the development is a new public space fronted by shops and benefiting from the afternoon sun. This is a much needed oasis on the route between Waterloo Station and the National Theatre. A stair and lift connecting to the south eastern side of Waterloo Bridge adds more pedestrian movement to further increase the vibrancy of the square. The new link gives people an alternative and much more attractive route between the north bank of the River Thames and Waterloo Station. Doon Street is currently a cul de sac that provides a service route to Kings College. In these proposals part of the CSCB site at the west end of the development is given over to connect the street to the pedestrian ramp which links Waterloo Station with the riverside. May 2007 proposals: a lower tower with white stone In general servicing and deliveries are still to be carried out in Doon Street, however these operations are housed in off-street loading bays so as to avoid impeding pedestrian movement. Even on this working side of the development there is awareness of the interior of the buildings and visible public activity. For instance, the public swimming and indoor leisure centre has a similar glazing pattern on this façade to that on Upper Ground, which permits glimpses of the interior; above it a garden overlooks the street. The offices, crèche and club of the leisure centre open onto a balcony at first floor level which also overlooks the street. view north from ramp The existing narrow pavement on Cornwall Road is doubled in width. The rectangular plan form of the development also creates a much wider pavement on Upper Ground and allows for much greater flows of people, an important provision given the impact of new visitors to the development. November 2005 proposals: view from Somerset House courtyard view from Waterloo Bridge May 2007 proposals: the tower is no longer visible from the courtyard; its top can be seen only from part of the Upper Terrace

6 what we think The proposals now put forward have evolved and have been refined over many years. They are based on needs and aspirations expressed in public meetings, surveys and consultations. They are strongly supported by planning policies at national, regional and borough levels. They seek to secure and sustain community facilities and programmes on a long term basis utilising social enterprise principles. They have been informed by careful study of the history and environment of the wider South Bank and they have been prepared using the skills of leading designers working to a brief prepared by those who will have long-term responsibility for managing and maintaining the facilities: CSCB, Greenwich Leisure and Rambert Dance Company. The proposals involve the transformation of a brownfield site into a thriving mixed use development which will: create substantial new employment and housing in the Waterloo Area of Opportunity ; create a major community sports facility in the North Lambeth and North Southwark Sports Action Zone London s only such zone; create a home for the country s leading contemporary dance company in the South Bank Strategic Cultural Area ; create a significant new public open space, and improved public realm and townscape, whilst achieving the intensification of uses required by planning policies; create an income stream to ensure that the facilities, community programmes and surrounding public realm can be managed and maintained to standards appropriate for the heart of this world class city; and utilise Combined Heat and Power (CHP) to optimise energy consumption on the site. aerial view view from Westminster Pier orientation plaque