Chelsea Barracks £3bn plan approved
NEW plans for the redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks in central London were given the go-ahead yesterday by Westminster council, two years after the Prince of Wales intervened over the original plans for the site.
The outline of the masterplan for the scheme, which will cost around £3bn, will see the 13-acre property that used to house the Queen’s guard transformed to include up to 448 houses and flats, as well as a sports centre, retail and a health centre.
The approval comes two years after the site’s owners Qatari Diar withdrew their plans following Prince Charles’ objections to award-winning architect Lord Rogers’ designs.
In a letter to the prime minister of Qatar last year, the Prince said that his “heart sank” when he saw Lord Rogers’ plans.
The plans, revised by architects Dixon Jones, Squire and Partners and Kim Wilkie, will now be referred to London Mayor Boris Johnson for approval before more detailed designs for the buildings are put before the council.
Sources familiar with plans said the buildings will be less “futuristic”, reaching up to eight stories in height compared to 11 stories outlined in the previous plan and will be joined by some five acres of new public squares. The Grade II listed chapel on the site will also be maintained.
The development will also feature 123 affordable homes, with £78m being contributed to the council’s affordable housing fund.
“Chelsea Barracks is the most significant residential development we have seen in Westminster in recent years, said councillor Alastair Moss, chairman of Westminster Council’s Planning and City Development Committee. “It is a world class site, in a historic part of the capital and it is vital that its re-development helps improve the area.”
TIME LINE | PRINCE CHARLES’ DESIGN INTERVENTIONS
● May 1984
At the 150th Anniversary of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Prince launches an unexpected attack on modern design, calling a plan for the National Gallery extension “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”.
● December 1987
At the Corporation of London Planning and Communication Committee’s annual dinner at Mansion House, Prince Charles criticises a scheme by Lord Rogers to redevelop Paternoster Square, which leads to Rogers changing the design.
● October 1988
In his BBC documentary A Vision of Britain, the Prince criticised the building of Canary Wharf saying he would “go mad if I had to work in a place like that”.
● July 1991
Charles wins the battle over designs for the extension of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square with a postmodern classical design by US architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
● February 2008
Prince Charles described designs for iron-clad Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall in Colchester as looking “like a dustbin”. The building went on to win a regional awards from the RIBA.
●April 2009
The Prince’s kicks off a row over Lord Rogers’ by intervening with his design of Chelsea Barracks.