Morden Wharf in Greenwich to be redesigned
In a somewhat unsurprising move Morden Wharf in Greenwich is set to be redesigned after the site was sold to Galliard Homes.
The 1,500-home project was sold by former owner LandSec U+I last year.
The approved design saw a number of towers beside the Thames. Don’t expect any revisions in the way of overall housing, but a new architect is on board and we may see some “value-engineering” soon.
It wasn’t the best granted and some blocks were indicative, but there was some colour evident other than dark and dreary tones with a welcome lack of clip-on balconies.
New developer
Galliard are hardly known for the quality of design and while Morden Wharf is contentious for height at least the designs shown tried to do something a bit different.
Galliard are behind one of London’s worst developments in recent years named “The Stage” in Shoreditch which could set a worrying precedent.
Upon gaining approval they “value engineered” the design down to a drab dark grey lump. Truly dismal and a great example of why design revisions should be closely watched post-approval.
Funnily enough they don’t seem too keen on showing exterior images of much of the building.
The newly appointed practice behind Morden Wharf designed a ungainly and lumpen block for Knight Dragon a short distance away.
Hopefully Galliard aim for something a bit better. They were behind Orchard Wharf beside Bow Creek which is decent enough. Fingers crossed for Greenwich.
It’s a shame – but not unsurprising – that OMA have been ditched. They have some fantastic work on the continent and I believe this would have been only their 2nd project in the UK.
Jo Cowan are being brought in to redesign the towers. Not sure how that will scale up
Jo Cowen Architects is responsible for the design of the residential tower blocks on Plots 1.02 and 1.03 at Meridian Quays near the O2 approved by the Greenwich Planning Board back in November.
It will be interesting to see how the practice might be able to improve the layout and design proposed by the previous developer of the Morden Wharf site in tandem with the new developer, Galliard Homes.