AHMM’s tweaked Shoreditch tower unanimously approved

The 125m-tall One Fairchild Street development, for Rocket Properties, will consist of a part 27-storey, part 8-storey and part 7-storey building on a prominent site just off S،reditch High Street.

The tower will occupy the site previously earmarked for a\xa0 30-storey ‘stacked box’ proposal by Gensler, which was approved but never built.

Since its submission in spring, the design has been tweaked to include changes to the building’s crown and m،ing, while its colour has changed from greyscale to a reddish-pink.

The development will include 31,800m² of office ،e, as well as roof terraces, ground-level retail ،e, and market stalls, according to consultation do،ents.\xa0

Hackney Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve the plans on Wednesday evening (9 October), subject to a section 106 legal agreement and secondary sign-off from the GLA.

Source:AHMM (taken from planning do،ents)

Hackney planning officers had recommended the office scheme for approval, praising its ‘high architectural quality’, office provision, and sustainability credentials.

In a report to the committee, officers concluded: ‘The scheme is considered to represent a positive development, on an underutilised site, that delivers an uplift in employment ،e, an active ground floor mix of uses and improved public realm.\'

During the meeting, Hackney councillors raised some concerns about the scheme, including over its sustainability and circular economy credentials, and its office remit.

One councillor called it ‘extraordinary’ to be building an office block of this scale, when, ‘for instance in Canary Wharf they\'re trying to turn all the offices there into residential buildings’.

She said she was concerned the council would ‘approve a white elephant that’s never going to be occupied, or perhaps never built, for that reason’.

However, a representative for the applicants defended the building’s use, arguing that it had been designed to respond directly to the ،ft in office occupiers’ needs post-Covid, with more ،e, outdoor ،e, and breakout ،e of a higher quality, rather than ‘offices which are rammed with lots of desks’.

Regarding the building’s sustainability credentials, a representative from CMA planning on behalf of the applicants told councillors: ‘You\'re right that there will be a lot of em،ied carbon\'.

But he argued that the carbon cost was justified by the opportunity to create an office building on ‘one of the very few significant opportunity sites left in this part of the borough, in the city fringe’, which ‘can be there for ،dreds of years’.

Source:AHMM (taken from planning do،ents)

AHMM\'s approved designs for 201-207 S،reditch High Street

AHMM first revealed its plans for the site during public consultations in autumn 2023, and submitted a planning application in March.

Gensler’s previous proposal for the site, a 200-room ،tel and mixed-use building for New York-based ،tel giant Highgate Holdings, won planning permission in 2015 but was never s،ed before Rocket Properties bought the site in 2022.

Source:AsymmetricA

Abandoned: Gensler\'s previously 2015-approved designs for 201-207 S،reditch High Street

Rocket Properties previously said the AHMM office-led scheme was ‘more in keeping with current Local Plan policy’ than the Gensler scheme, as it addresses ‘the excess demand for office ،e in Hackney’.

The developer has said One Fairchild Street will target a BREEAM Outstanding sustainability rating.

The site is currently vacant, having been cleared and ،arded since 2019. A series of ‘utilit، buildings’ including a three-storey spa and a Majestic wine ware،use were demolished to make way for the Gensler design.

Planning consultant CMA Planning has remained on the design team since Gensler’s proposal, joined by structural engineer WSP, heritage consultant Montagu Evans and landscape architect MRG Studio.

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