Approval has been granted for a housing development above Southwark tube station after a planned office block was deemed no longer viable.

A previously consented scheme, approved in 2021, would have been for a single large commercial block with 25 affordable flats. However, it would also have been largely occupied by Transport for London (TfL), which no longer needed the site. Lacking other office tenants, the developer — a joint venture between Places for London, TfL’s property company, and central London developer Helical — came back with a residential scheme.

Designed by architects AHMM, the development will include a new Bauhaus-inspired block that will be leased as student accommodation and a separate council-managed social housing block. In total, it’ll offer 429 studio apartments for students and an adjacent nine-storey building comprising 44 council homes in a mix of family-sized units.

Planning consent was granted yesterday evening (5th March) at an uncharacteristically quiet session with little objection from councillors. Some concerns were raised about light into the flats in one corner and whether the students would add a burden on local services, although these were mitigated.

A late submission from a heritage group to preserve a distinctive narrow column in the centre of the ticket hall was discussed. It emerged that the column was always intended to be temporary as it sits on top of structural foundations that were intended to have a more substantial column added later to support the oversite development. However, the planned replacement column should only be a couple of inches wider, so it is not a significant change.

The student housing, which is the main block to be built above the station will be clad in glazed terracotta tiles, in a nod to the tiling used on older parts of the London Underground. The vertical lines and placement of the windows in central alignments is said to be a nod to Charles Holden’s designs at stations such as East Finchely.

The stepped-back design of the tower block will also leave the curved entrance of the tube station as a feature, which would be enhanced by using the roof as a garden. There would also be ground-floor retail units—aka coffee shops—provided where some surplus staff facilities inside the station are being removed.

The neighbouring affordable housing block has a similar design, and while complementary to each other, the residential block is less vertical and more horizontal in appearance. The residential block is also more concrete and less terracotta in the cladding that would be used.

Scott Anderson, Head of Property Development at Places for London, said: “It’s wonderful news to have received approval for our over station development above Southwark station. Designed to preserve the architectural heritage of the station and aiming for the highest of sustainability standards, our plans with Helical will bring new homes and provide real benefits for London. We’re proud to be providing improvements to the local community through new high-quality and affordable homes and student accommodation which will help to alleviate pressure on the housing market in the area.

“We’re glad to be able to move forward with our plans where residents will benefit from new, high-quality public spaces, including a community garden space, new play spaces for children and shops around the station.”