Councillors said building鈥檚 height would have impacted adjacent Old Vic theatre
Squire & Partners鈥� proposals to build a nine-storey residential block next to Waterloo station have been rejected by Lambeth council.
Planning officers had recommended the scheme for approval but councillors voted four to one to kill off the proposals last month.
The brick-clad building would have been located on a vacant plot in a mostly low-rise area on The Cut, directly opposite the front door of the grade II-listed Old Vic theatre.
It would have provided nine apartments topped by a double-height 鈥榗rown鈥� housing a roof garden and featuring statement arched openings, with one side of the building decorated by a green wall.
But the council said the 鈥渆xcessive height鈥� of the scheme would have impacted the setting of the adjacent theatre.
The scale of the plans would mean that 鈥渢he eye is drawn to that building and away from the Old Vic鈥�, while the block was also said to impact on the 鈥渢ownscape, local character and context鈥� of the area, the council said.
It added that it had not 鈥渋dentified public benefits of sufficient weight which would outweigh that harm鈥�.
The scheme had already been scaled back from proposals for a 12-storey building after councillors said the lobby and roof garden levels, which were both double-height, would amount to a building which was closer to 16 storeys.
It had also been redesigned with arches, which Squire & Partners said had been inspired by the brickwork facade of the 1871 Old Vic building.
The refusal is the latest in a string of setbacks for Squire & Partners.
Last November, housing secretary Michael Gove rejected the studio鈥檚 plans for a 1,000-home redevelopment of Brighton Marina after saying it 鈥渓acked exuberance鈥�.
The previous month, the City of London turned down the firm鈥檚 proposals to convert the grade I-listed Custom House into a 200-room hotel because councillors said it did not represent a high enough standard of design for the large neo-classical building.
And last summer, the mayor of London threw out plans to turn the Budweiser brewery in south-west London into a mixed-use scheme because it did not contain enough affordable housing.
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