UK: Joseph Homes and Alumno have been granted planning consent for a 244-bedroom PBSA scheme in Southwark, south London.
At the latest meeting of Southwark’s planning committee, planning officer Patrick Cronin pointed out that the scheme, designed by Maccreanor Lavington, is well located for students of both London South Bank University and the London College of Communication.
Cronin told the committee that “the rounded corners of the building would soften and sculpt the massing”.
The council will receive a financial contribution in lieu of affordable housing. The inflation-linked payment is today valued at £8.54 million but is likely to exceed £11 million.
David Campbell, managing director of Alumno, told councillors: “We seek to blend our investment in local communities with cultural placemaking, so creating places that make a positive contribution in social, economic, cultural and architectural terms.”
Campbell added that the Rockingham Street proposal represented “optimisation of a brownfield site”.
The committee resolved unanimously to grant planning permission.
A 21-storey office scheme for the same site was approved in 2019. An earlier residential proposal was given the green light in 2014 but the site has remained vacant.
