Bankside 123

Despite being geographically almost at the epicentre of the world's major cities, Bankside has been historically positioned at the edge of things. Within what is now the heart of Bankside once stood a building hailed as Europe's largest office block. If that sounds like a ringing endorsement, it wasn't. Built in 1959, St Christopher's House, government offices, has been described as 'a demoralising place to work'. Widely considered drab and oppressive and with an uninterrupted frontage of 625m, the building presented a major obstacle dividing the river from the neighbourhoods to the south.

With the opening of Tate Modern at Bankside Power Station in 2000, the surrounding area had begun to attract new visitors, its proximity to Waterloo, the City of London and London Bridge all to its advantage. But Southwark Street was screened from these opportunities by the monolithic office block.

The Millennium bridge linking St Paul's with Tate Modern traced a new north south connection that our development could extend and exploit. Opening up views between Southwark tube station and the Tate was also to be promoted. Three buildings are placed on the site to restore the historic street pattern and create a new pedestrian route, Canvey Street, between Southwark Street and Sumner Street that opens up the block. Each building is arranged around a day-lit atrium and is designed to accommodate a range of tenants, from single occupier to multiple tenants per floor. Ground floor retail units activate the public realm, and new public spaces form routes that are attractive to visitors, workers and residents alike. Scale and massing respond to adjacencies and site conditions; height restraints due to the proximity of St Pauls have been respected.

Today, Bankside is a quite different place. Busy and bustling, the retail and restaurants fill the public realm with tables and people. The extension to the Tate has affirmed the importance of the southern approach via Canvey Street. Bankside 1, 2 and 3 are thriving and tenanted, and having subsequently changed ownership and occupants, in the process shifting from speculative development to owner occupied to multi-tenanted, they have successfully demonstrated their flexibility. New trees, planting and public art and an active local business community (with a Business Improvement District) are all part of the area's ongoing success.