A Chinese investor has stumped up the cash to build One Nine Elms, a twin-tower development in Vauxhall which, when completed in 2017, will be the UK's tallest residential skyscraper, swiping the title from its near neighbour, St George's Tower.
The two towers, the taller of which reaches a height of 200m, are on the site of a pair of unlovely 1970s buildings, and will in total comprise 481 flats. Of those, 51 are earmarked as "affordable", though it won't do much to dampen the growing concern that overseas buyers are creating a property bubble and leaving some areas deserted (the recent sale of apartments at Battersea Power Station were snapped up within hours, mostly to foreign investors).
Designed by KPF, who have designed several City 'scrapers including Heron Tower, the two buildings will also house offices, retail units at ground level and a hotel. There will also be a public plaza between the towers. Expect to see the Pickfords removal vans arriving in 2017 when the building completes, though residents will have to wait until 2020 for a Tube station when the Northern line extension finally arrives.
The development is one of a growing number of new towers dotting the area, which some marketing whizz has snappily branded the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea Opportunity Area. Handily, there's an interactive map showing where all the new buildings are going to be, and sketching out the 'linear park' that will weave through the area and try to bring some sort of cohesion to what is likely to be a heterodox collection of buildings.
In other residential skyscraper news, over in east London plans for an even larger tower, the 239m Squire & Partners project at Canary Wharf, were dealt a blow by Tower Hamlets this week after a planning application was rejected.
