Next, let's have a look at the stats, ground floor plan, and elevations (
source):
Plus, a few pictures I took of the site this evening as it currently stands:
Finally, my initial thoughts on this proposal:
There is a lot to like here — this is a massive step up architecturally from much of what is proposed in London (as you would expect when you hire a firm like HPA), and if Fitzrovia is serious about entering the London market and building this tower, that's a major vote of confidence in the city.
35 storeys is aggressive, but in my opinion, not without merit. London appears to be moving towards greater heights, and if you can get 32 storeys at Oxford and Highbury, getting 35 much closer to the core would seem generally reasonable to me. 512 units is very dense (over 3,900 units/ha!) but is explained partly by the high percentage of studios and the small footprint of the site. Only 77 vehicle parking spaces is fine by me, especially here (Oxford and Richmond is a traffic zoo at pretty much all hours of the day).
I have some small design observations. First, the two lay-by parking spaces on Oxford are awfully close to the intersection, which as mentioned above, is really not in need of any additional chaos. Second, I wonder if there is any possibility of having the pickup/dropoff enter and exit onto the laneway instead of exiting onto Oxford, which as proposed would create a rather wide driveway (13 metres, give or take) on Oxford. Third, there is effectively no stepback (1 metre or less) between the tower and the base on the Oxford or Richmond sides. I don't find this problematic necessarily unless it will create a wind tunnel, but as far as I can see, no wind study has been done.
Overall, I think this could be a very positive addition — and a welcome return to London for Hariri Pontarini who were responsible for the sublime Ivey building at UWO (and which you must see if you ever have the opportunity!)
And since it is Fitzrovia I’m guessing the chances of it going ahead are high.
