Page 642 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

An impression of 72 Upper Ground, which has been approved by Lambeth council
MAKE ARCHITECTS
You could argue that it’s no more of an eyesore than the rash of overbearing residential towers

that have been allowed to besmirch the south bank of the Thames a few miles further west in

Vauxhall and Battersea. They, however, are in less prominent areas of the capital. This new

building is on the central London river path connecting the Southbank Centre, British Film
Institute, National Theatre, Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe — a magnet for tourists

attracted to London’s cultural riches.

What were the councillors on Lambeth’s planning committee thinking of, when they voted six to

one to approve it? How on earth did Ben Oates, Lambeth’s principal planning officer, reach the

conclusion that “the public benefits of the proposal outweigh the low degree of less than

substantial harm to designated heritage assets”? What public benefits?

Being a charitable soul, I can only conclude that Lambeth’s councillors, responsible for running

one of London’s poorer boroughs, were swayed by the claim from the developer, Mitsubishi

Estate, that the scheme would deliver 4,000 jobs. Even if it does, however, and even if those
jobs go to Lambeth residents (two big ifs), how does that excuse the crass charmlessness of the

architecture?