Alsop Designs South West London Towers

Two new towers are being worked on by SMC Alsop for a site opposite East Putney underground station on Upper Richmond Road in London.

The mixed use development by Oracle Residential called Putney Place will have housing, retail and office aspects mirroring the mixture found in the area. There will be up to 350 new apartments, 2,000 square metres of office space and 1,000 square metres of retail.

Two buildings are proposed in the scheme. The first will be a tapering leaning block orientated towards Upper Richmond Road acting as a visual marker on the skyline which could rise up to 25 storeys in height.

Clad in a glass curtain wall with coloured solar shading, it will have winter gardens running up the sides of the tower acting as a buffer between the outer wall and inner units. Inside will be offices on the lowest two floors with residential accommodation above it.

The second building will be shorter and has been designed like a cylinder, again covered partly with coloured cladding creating a sense of visual coherence with its blockier counterpart. Within will be residential units whilst the tower will be topped with a sky garden for residents.

Around the base of the towers will be a new landscaped public area that will also create a new pedestrian route running through the site.

Whether the tower can get through the planning system in the Borough of Wandsworth remains to be seen. Putney still has the character of a Victorian suburb as evidenced by its street names based around politicians of the era.

Dominated by this wealthy suburban nature of leafy streets and large villas, the developer is likely to have a fight on their hands against locals who will not be supportive of a scheme that could so noticeably change the character of Putney.