A striking, sixteen story triangular tower has just been unveiled on Southwark Street at its junction with Lavington Street. The elegant architectural proportions, polychromatic brickwork and prominent position of The Bankside Collection promise to make it an instant landmark for the Borough of Southwark.
“It’s a remarkable building that announces the break between Victorian London and the new developments along Bankside,” explains Graham Morrison, director of Allies and Morrison, the award-winning architectural practice that designed it. With an unusual plot of land left over from successive waves of urban planning, his team created a contemporary tower with the proportions of a Renaissance bell-tower or campanile that resolves the geometry of the urban grid and slots into the sightlines down Southwark Street.
“With over 100 buildings on our books at the moment,” says Morrison. “And this is one of my favourites. There’s nothing like it in London or even Europe – it’s a building you’d expect to find in Tokyo. People are always surprised to discover it contains only nine flats.”
The nine apartments were, in fact, originally intended for the nine partners of Allies and Morrison, whose offices just a few doors down on Southwark Street have won numerous accolades including RIBA London Building of the Year in 2004.
Designed for architects by architects, the triple-aspect flats are far more generously proportioned than the majority of new-builds being constructed across the capital. The two-bedroom apartments, for example, span more than 100 sq m, and each one has direct lift access and large, south-facing private balconies with breathtaking views over Tate Modern, The Shard and beyond. What’s more, the penthouse spans almost 200 sq m including its own roof terrace.
“We see value in creating homes aimed at owner-occupiers that are bigger than standard market size and that suit the area they are in,” says Josh Chadd, founder of property developer Tailored Living Solutions (TLS) that built The Bankside Collection and customised the building for 21st-century urban living. “We’ve also developed seamless technology for every stage of the ownership experience.”
TLS use Houzzi, a bespoke platform which facilitates the buying, customisation, ownership and day to day running of your new smart home remotely through the latest digital software.
TLS’s signature technology also extends to the sustainability credentials of the building, which go beyond solid, heat-retaining walls to include rooftop photovoltaics (solar panels) and air-source heat pumps which transfer heat from outside the building to the inside or vice-versa.