Plans have been announced for a £1 bn (EUR 1.48 bn) scheme featuring three skyscrapers for a site next to Waterloo station in London. P&O Estates and Morgan Stanley, the owners, have submitted an application for two office buildings with retail space at their lower levels and one residential block, together totalling around 130,000 m[sup]2[/sup]. The current buildings on the site, including Elizabeth House, a 1960s office block regarded as an eyesore, include only 22,300 m[sup]2[/sup] of offices and 1,900 m[sup]2[/sup] retail. The scheme incorporates 280 residential units with a mix of private, shared equity and social rented accommodation.
Plans have been announced for a £1 bn (EUR 1.48 bn) scheme featuring three skyscrapers for a site next to Waterloo station in London. P&O Estates and Morgan Stanley, the owners, have submitted an application for two office buildings with retail space at their lower levels and one residential block, together totalling around 130,000 m2. The current buildings on the site, including Elizabeth House, a 1960s office block regarded as an eyesore, include only 22,300 m2 of offices and 1,900 m2 retail. The scheme incorporates 280 residential units with a mix of private, shared equity and social rented accommodation.
In 2005 P&O abandoned proposals in 2005 for a sail-shaped building designed by RHWL and launched a design competition that was won by architects Allies and Morrison. Although Waterloo is identified in the Mayor's London Plan as an appropriate area for tall buildings, P&O says that it has decided not to build much taller than the existing Shell Centre tower nearby.
‘The development at Elizabeth House will provide an exciting and attractive new place to live and work and the scheme will deliver immediate improvements in access to the South Bank and Waterloo Station,’ said P&O Estates Director David Hudson. ‘This is a fantastic opportunity to build on the continuing success of the South Bank as the leading area of opportunity in Central London.’