SAMPSON HOUSE PLANNING APPLICATION MAY 2018 ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT VOLUME II - TOWNSCAPE, CONSERVATION AND VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SAMPSON HOUSE LIMITED TEAM CLIENT STRUCTURE ENGINEER TOWNSCAPE CONSULTANT SAMPSON HOUSE LIMITED AKT II TAVERNOR CONSULTANCY PLANNING CONSULTANT SERVICES ENGINEER VISUALISATION SERVICE DP9 SWECO MILLER HARE PROJECT MANAGER FIRE ENGINEER ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT GARDINER & THEOBALD JGA FIRE ENGINEERING TRIUM ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING ARCHITECT FACADE ENGINEER PUBLIC RELATIONS PLP ARCHITECTURE / MAKE ARCHITECTS THORNTON TOMASETTI KANDA CONSULTING DAYLIGHT & SUNLIGHT CONSULTANT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS GORDON INGRAM ASSOCIATES GILLESPIES RESIDENTIAL AGENT TRANSPORT ENGINEER KNIGHT FRANK LLP WSP GROUP / CLEWLOW CONSULTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONSULTANT ACCESS CONSULTANT DS2 JANE SIMPSON ACCESS Miller Hare Limited Mappin House 4 Winsley Street London W1W 8HF +44 20 7691 1000 [email protected] Sampson House Townscape, Conservation and Visual Impact Assessment May 2018 Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Assessment Methodology and Significance Criteria 4 3 Planning Policy Context 9 4 Baseline Conditions 14 5 Visual Characteristics of the Proposed Development 27 6 Views Assessment 28 The Views 29 1 | LVMF 1A.1 | Alexandra Palace: viewing terrace – south western section 34 2 | LVMF 2A.1 | Parliament Hill: the summit – looking towards St Paul’s Cathedral 38 3 | LVMF 3A.1 | Kenwood: the viewing gazebo – in front of the orientation board 42 4 | LVMF 4A.1 | Primrose Hill: the summit – looking toward St Paul’s Cathedral 46 5 | LVMF 5A.2 | Greenwich Park: the General Wolfe statue – north east of the statue 50 6 | LVMF 6A.1 | Blackheath Point – near the orientation board 54 7A | LVMF 26A.1 | St James’ Park Footbridge, centre of the bridge | Summer 58 7B | LVMF 26A.1 | St James’ Park Footbridge, centre of the bridge | Winter | Day 62 7N | LVMF 26A.1 | St James’ Park Footbridge, centre of the bridge | Dusk 66 8 | Monument viewing gallery 70 9 | St Paul’s Cathedral – viewing gallery looking south west 74 10 | Somerset House terrace 78 11 | Parliament Square: south side viewing north-east | Spring 82 Client 12 | Mansell Street – junction with East Smithfield 86 Sampson House Limited 13 | LVMF 10A.1 | Tower Bridge: north bastion 90 Architect 14 | LVMF 10A.1 | Tower Bridge: north bastion | Panorama 94 PLP Architecture | Make 15 | LVMF 12A.2 | Southwark Bridge – at the City of London bank 98 Planning Consultant 15N | LVMF 12A.2 | Southwark Bridge – at the City of London bank | Dusk 102 DP9 16 | LVMF 12A.1 | Southwark Bridge – centre 106 Townscape Consultant 17 | Millennium Bridge: south 110 Tavernor Consultancy 18N | Millennium Bridge: south | Dusk | Panorama 114 Visualisation 19 | Millennium Bridge: north | Panorama 118 Millerhare 3445_8410 | 2 May 2018 3:40 PM Contents (continued) 20 | Mermaid Events Centre – Puddle Dock | Alternative Position 122 Appendices 249 21 | Blackfriars Bridge: north end 126 A1 Millerhare’s technical notes on the Views 249 22 | Blackfriars Bridge: close to centre | Panorama 130 A2 View Locations 250 22N | Blackfriars Bridge: close to centre | Dusk | Panorama 134 A3 Model Overview 259 23 | Top of steps to Inner Temple Gardens. 138 A4 Details of schemes 260 24 | LVMF 16B.1 | The South Bank: Gabriel’s Wharf viewing platform – centre of north rail 142 A5 Accurate Visual Representations 262 25 | Embankment – at viewing plaque 146 A6 Methodology for the production of Accurate Visual Representations 264 25N | Embankment – at viewing plaque | Dusk 150 26 | LVMF 15B.1 | Waterloo Bridge: downstream – close to the Westminster Embankment 154 27 | LVMF 15B.2 | Waterloo Bridge: downstream – centre of the bridge 158 28 | LVMF 20B.1 | Victoria Embankment: between Waterloo and Hungerford Bridges – at Cleopatra’s Needle 162 29 | LVMF 17B.1 | Golden Jubilee/Hungerford Footbridges: downstream – crossing the Westminster bank 166 30 | LVMF 20A.1 | Victoria Embankment: between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges 170 31 | LVMF 18B.1 | Westminster Bridge: downstream – at the Westminster bank 174 32 | LVMF 19A.1 | Lambeth Bridge: downstream – at the centre of the bridge 178 33 | LVMF 19A.1 | Lambeth bridge | Panorama 182 34 | St George’s Circus 186 35 | Across Redcross Gardens 190 36 | Looking north along Blackfriars Road (just south of Ufford Street) 194 37 | Exton Street 198 38 | Sumner Street and Emerson Street – view to west 202 39 | Looking west along Southwark Street opposite Bankside 206 40 | Aquinas Street 210 41 | Stamford Street – west 214 42 | Southwark Street – near Great Suffolk Street 218 43 | Bear Lane and Great Suffolk Street 222 44 | Stamford Street – near King’s Reach – south pavement 226 45 | Stamford Street – junction with Rennie Street 230 46 | Upper Ground 234 47 | Blackfriars Bridge – south end – seating area 238 This report and all intellectual property rights in it and arising Townscape and Built Heritage Assessments 242 from it are the property of or are under licence to the Tavernor Consultancy Limited. Neither the whole nor any part of this 7 Residual Effects and Conclusions 246 report, nor any drawing, plan, other document or any infor- mation contained within it may be reproduced in any form References 248 without the prior written consent of the Tavernor Consultancy Limited. All material in which the intellectual property rights have been licensed to the Tavernor Consultancy Limited and such rights belong to third parties may not be published or reproduced at all in any form, and any request for consent to the use of such material for publication or reproduction should be made directly to the owner of the intellectual property rights therein. 2 Sampson House Townscape, Conservation and Visual Impact Assessment May 2018 1 Introduction 1.1 This Townscape, Conservation and Visual Impact Assessment (TCVIA) is for Sampson House (the ‘Proposed Development’). It forms Volume II of the Environmental Statement (ES). Sampson House previously formed part of a larger site, which included Ludgate House (now demolished), which is subject to extant permissions, 12/AP/3940, granted in 2014 and Section 73 application granted in November 2017. This current application is for the Sampson House site only. To the west, Ludgate House is now undergoing redevelopment in accordance with the S73 permission. 1.2 The purpose of the TCVIA is to assess the likely significant effects of the Proposed Development on the character and quality of the surrounding townscape, distant, mid- distance and local views and on the setting and significance of built heritage assets (both statutory and non-statutory designations) within and close to the Site. This TCVIA has been prepared by the Tavernor Consultancy Ltd (‘Tavernor Consultancy’), who also prepared the TCVIA for the extant permission and 2012 ES, and a subsequent S73. It is based on architectural drawings by PLP Architects and Make Architects, which form part of the application, and accurate visual repre- sentations by visualisation firm Miller Hare, which are included in the Views Assessment in Section 6 below. 1.3 The likely significant environmental effects of the Proposed Development are considered through the Views Assessment in section 6 of the TCVIA. This contains a comprehensive selec- tion of views, agreed with the London Borough of Southwark Council (LB Southwark) through scoping for the 2012 ES: the view locations remain relevant for the current applica- tion and, apart from the need to update the photographs to include recent development, do not – in our professional opinion – require to be supplemented. The views are also set out in the EIA Scoping Report (Ref: 18/AP/0486) submitted in February 2018. Photographs of the views are overlaid with accurately surveyed, verified outline and detailed representa- tions of the Proposed Development and outline representa- tions of other developments submitted and consented that may have a cumulative impact in relation to the Proposed Development when built. Additionally, unverified illustrative view points within or close to the Site are included in the archi- tects’ Design and Access Statement, which should be read in conjunction with this report. 1.4 In the concluding section of the TCVIA the residual effects of the Proposed Development and Combined Masterplan (Sampson and Ludgate House) have been compared with the residual effects of the 2012 ES. May 2018 Townscape, Conservation and Visual Impact Assessment Sampson House 3 2 Assessment Methodology and Significance Criteria Introduction in the View) (Ref 1-8); Conservation Area Designation, Impact Assessments for Cultural World Heritage Properties 2.14 When applying the EIA methodology described above, the Appraisal and Management: Historic England Advice (2011) (Ref 1-27) and the GLA WHS Settings SPG (Ref 1-26). rationale for judgements of existing sensitivity and magni- 2.1 This assessment has taken into account the existing physical Note 1 (2016) (Ref 1-3); Tall Buildings Historic England tude of effect, and of how they combine to inform a judge- fabric of the area, the character and settings of Conservation Advice Note 4 (2015) (Ref 1-9); and Conservation 2.9 The key guidance relevant specifically to assessing heritage ment of overall significance of effect, is explained in narrative Areas (within an approximate 500m radius of the Site) and Principles: Policies and Guidance (2008) (Ref 1-6); significance and impacts on heritage significance arising from descriptions of likely significant effects relating to each view, Listed Buildings (within an approximately 250m radius