The introduction sets the scene – rapid de-industrialisation (watch any episode of the 1970’s “The Sweeney”). Stopping the rot is what the local authority is about.
We begin with Culture and Leisure. Southwark is proud of its new libraries – access to literature for all and in their different ways Camberwell and Canada Water libraries (Pages 18 and 20) present a positive, forward-looking Southwark.
It is, however, the theatrical/art builds that stir the emotions. Love it or loathe it Tate Modern’s Blavatnik Building (page 32) cannot be ignored. (Some unkindly suggest it looks like the alien blobs out of Hammer’s 1957 “Quatermass II”).
Housing illustrates the contrast between the public and private developer.
95 Peckham Road (page 38) is quirky, small scale and neighbourly although the road aspect is unforgiving. Creeping ivy would break the monotony.
Albion Street housing (page 40) and the Appleby Blue Alms-houses (page 42) offer low rise, compact housing, in tune with their neighbourhoods. Local authority housing Aylesbury Estate and the Harriet Hardy Extra Care (Page 46) is a welcome downsizing from the 60’s/70’s high rise council estates. Except for “the planners know best “mentality with a separate block for older people!
When comes to private finance, the sky’s the limit. Neo Bankside (page 56), One Blackfriars (page 58), One the Elephant (page 60) and Two Fifty One (page64). Interesting use of surfaces and materials and “the usual residents’ amenities including a health club, restaurant and cinema…”
In the Infrastructure and Jobs section the most successful is the Employment Academy (page 72). It speaks of work, skills, and the artisan. Sadly, Guy’s Centre (page 74) and King’s College Hospital Campus (page 82) are messy, ugly or both. I do, however, warm to the clean lines of Ortus (page 83).
Finally, Walworth Town Hall and Central Library (Page 86). Changing taste and fashion saved this lovely building. The restoration is a pleasure to behold, and the repurposing as an SME hub much needed.
I’d renamed “Mixed Use” – “Skyscrapers.”
Bankside Yards (Page 90) is a mini–Canary Wharf, although I have some sympathy for Maple Quays and Ontario Point (page 100) its mixed shapes and reflections add interest. You can’t ignore the Shard (Page 104), so bombastic it defies criticism. Unfortunately, Shard Place (page 107) is nightmarish without the thrill.
When it comes to education local and small is best. The brutish Rotherhithe (page 111) and Phoenix Primary (page 116) contrast with the playful Bellenden Primary (page 112) and Spa School (Page 117). I love Haberdashers’ (Page 120). Unmoveable history with a sensitive modern twist.
Landscapes are essential in a crowded, noisy urban surrounding. The monumental need a bridge to connect with the human scale. All the schemes achieve that. Within Elephant Park, the Tree House (Page 136) is a delight – trees as kindly elephants – cosseting you. And Dickens’ Fields (Page 146) is a wooded enclave in a “concrete jungle”. Just breath out.
