SPPARC narrowly wins approval for Bankside office and retail scheme

Two councillors voted in favour and two against in a committee meeting on 8 June, with one abstention, leaving the chair of the meeting to make a final casting vote in favour of conditionally approving the scheme, which will replace existing light industrial commercial units.

The building at 33-36 Bear Lane in Bankside, Southwark, was submitted in May 2021 as a joint venture between developers Acorn and Galliard. It will comprise seven floors of office space for up to 525 employees on top of a retail unit and café leading onto Bear Lane at ground level, totalling 6,780m² of commercial and retail space on the ‘remaining undeveloped site in the area’.

A total of 129 objections were filed against the scheme during four consultations between May 2021 and May 2023. Objectors were concerned about the displacement of existing businesses, including a silversmith and theatre set maker, the ‘overall bulk’ of the building potentially turning Bear Lane into a ‘tiny dark-well’ for residents, as well as other impacts from ‘gross overdevelopment’ on the area and its heritage assets.

The scheme was granted planning permission on condition that the developers enter into an ‘appropriate legal agreement’ no later than 31 October, ‘to overcome the negative impacts of a generally acceptable proposal’, including creating targets for sustainability, local employment and affordable workspace.

SPPARC has designed the building with brick detailing, traditional masonry, and an interactive glazed frontage it says is intended to ‘echo the area’s industrial legacy’ with a ‘modern warehouse aesthetic’.

The new scheme will incorporate dual-aspect railway arches previously cut off from public use, which will feed into the Better Bankside Lowline project to turn Southwark’s railway viaducts into ‘vibrant’ spaces for the local community.

The Soho-based practice, which has previously worked on the regeneration of Kensington Olympia, Borough Yards and The Saville Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, said it had undertaken ‘extensive change’ to its proposals in response to community feedback over the last two years. This includes reducing the overall scale of the building, introducing setbacks and landscaped planting on the upper floors, and choosing to ‘reanimate’ the existing arches.

The architect said its scheme would reflect the ‘historic vernacular’ of the former industrial area, which was home to ironmongery, early mechanical engineering and textile manufacturing, with ‘intricate’ brick detailing to complement surrounding buildings, and an interactive glazed façade, which will project information about the historic legacy of Bankside.

SPPARC founder Trevor Morriss said: ‘During a period of several years, we have evolved our proposals through extensive pre-application discussions with planning officers, local societies and residents, to put forward a vision that respects and responds to the setting of the site that will skilfully cohabit with neighbouring properties whilst balancing matters of privacy and amenity.

‘The approved scheme reflects on Bankside’s industrial heritage and adopts a modern warehouse aesthetic that captures our strong interest in the art of crafting high-quality architecture with masonry.’

Project data

Location Bear Lane, Southwark, London SE1
Local authority London Borough of Southwark
Type of project Commercial development including public realm and affordable workspace
Client Acorn/Galliard
Architect  SPPARC
Landscape architect MW Associates
Planning consultant Bidwells
Structural engineer CRE8
M&E consultant Box Twenty
Quantity surveyor RLB
Gross internal floor area 6,775m²