Residents on the Battersea riverfront in south London are calling for the rejection of a controversial high-rise that will “tower over” their homes, ahead of a key vote on the proposal.
Wandsworth councillors will decide this Thursday evening whether to grant permission for plans to replace a 1980s office block at the southern end of Battersea Bridge with a 29-storey tower.
The Glassmill development, backed by developer Rockwell, includes 110 homes, of which half will be for social rent, but has been recommended for refusal by planning officers due to its “excessive height and scale”.
The scheme includes a taller element housing private flats and a “shoulder tower” of ten storeys, which would contain 54 social homes, affordable workspace and a free-to-access community space.
Yet the building’s height, division of housing tenures and proximity to the listed bridge have provoked a fierce local backlash.
More than 1900 objections have been submitted to the council, and a petition under the banner STOP One Battersea Bridge (S.O.B.B) has amassed nearly 5,000 signatures including stars such as Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones frontman who has a long association with Chelsea.
According to local journalist and resident Rob McGibbon, who started the petition, other famous names have also lent their weight to the campaign, including iconic guitarist Eric Clapton and the actress Felicity Kendal.
Objections have been raised by a roll-call of groups including Historic England, the Chelsea Society, the Battersea Society and the neighbouring borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Wandsworth Council Leader Simon Hogg and local MP Marsha de Cordova have also spoken out against the scheme.
More than 1,500 comments have also been submitted in support of the scheme, and in response to concerns the tower’s architect has already slashed ten storeys off its height.
But planning officers remain concerned that the Glassmill would constitute an overdevelopment of the site, given its location on a stretch of the Thames comprised mainly of mid and low-rise buildings.
Their 127-page report describes the tower as “an unacceptable and incongruous transformative change” in an area not designated for tall buildings under Wandsworth’s local plan.
Local resident Caroline Gardiner helped found the Friends of Battersea Riverfront campaign to fight the tower. She described the proposal as a “giant skittle” which would dominate Battersea’s skyline.
“If you stand in the centre of Battersea Park, all you will see is this giant thing going up into the sky. It will be a blot on all of this landscape, and once one tower comes, it will set a precedent for others to follow,” she said.
Gardiner said the while developer might be aiming to create an “iconic” structure, its effect would conversely be to “obliterate” the riverfront’s existing architectural gems. Gardiner lives in the neighbouring Albion Riverside, a complex designed by one of the country’s top practices Foster + Partners, in the 1990s.
Albion Riverside also includes the starchitect’s own HQ and 6 Hester Road, an affordable block run by Peabody housing association. According to daylight studies submitted alongside the Glassmill planning application, the block’s light levels could be reduced by over 70% in some rooms, with only 36 of 85 windows assessed meeting guidelines.
“The key point is that it would destroy residents’ lives at 6 Hester Road, and it is just not acceptable,” said Gardiner.
Michelle Griffiths, 70, a retired picture restorer, who has owned a shared equity flat in 6 Hester Road for about seven years, said the development will “tower above us and make us feel very boxed in”.
Griffiths also fears the new tower will block out light to the building’s only communal area, a lawn on the first floor of the building, which, according to the studies, will lose over a third of its daylight.
The planning officers’ report stated that the loss of daylight to 6 Hester Road’s green space is “not considered excessive in the context”, and the space was designed as a barrier between the flats and the existing office block rather than a garden.
However, Griffiths argued that the lawn is one of the only areas for residents to gather. “At the moment, we have sun most of the afternoon. If the new tower is built, I think we’ll lose pretty much all of that sunshine.”
Griffiths also raised concerns over the Glassmill’s lack of social integration. "They have effectively designed two buildings side by side, one social and one private. We should be trying to move away from that,” she said.
Local MP Marsha de Cordova told H&P she was “pleased” that Wandsworth planners had recommended refusal and said the Glassmill would “do considerable harm to the existing community and the surrounding environment.”
"I have welcomed lots of new investment in Battersea, but investors must convincingly show that they will be a good neighbour and their proposals must be accompanied by genuine aims to support the people - particularly the most vulnerable - of this area."
In a statement, Nicholas Mee, managing director at Rockwell, said: “An underused brownfield site could deliver 110 urgently needed new homes — with half reserved as genuinely affordable, social rent options.”
“These could accommodate around 190 people in a borough where over 11,000 residents are still waiting for a place to live.”
In response to the loss of daylight at 6 Hester Road, a spokesperson for Rockwell said detailed assessments had been undertaken of all neighbouring properties and green spaces and the council had “confirmed the [assessments] conclusions are comprehensive and justified”.
A Wandsworth Council spokesperson added: “Officers have recommended the application is refused due to its height and scale in comparison to the local area, contrary to the London Plan and the Wandsworth Local Plan which outlines how land in the borough should be used.”
