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Hopkins Architects鈥� plans to redevelop ITV鈥檚 London Television Centre with a taller tower and replacement headquarters building have won planning permission from Lambeth council.

The proposals will replace the TV company鈥檚 45-year-old home with a two-part scheme that has a 31-storey tower with 213 new homes at the southernmost part of the site.

ITV鈥檚 actual new headquarters building ranges from six to 14 storeys, with its tallest elements closest to the Thames. The scheme incorporates 44,434sq m of new office space, 3,632sq m of studio space, and 216sq m of new retail space.

Campaign group the Twentieth Century Society had , dubbing them 鈥渂land鈥� and arguing the scheme would 鈥減resent a massive and impenetrable frontage to a prominent riverside location that is successful and significant due to its permeability and sense of openness鈥�.

Nevertheless, members of Lambeth council鈥檚 planning committee approved the application, as recommended by planning officers, at a marathon session last night.

Officers said that while the new blocks would be taller than the existing buildings and closer to Queen鈥檚 Walk 鈥� the South Bank Thameside path, nearby buildings such as Sea Containers House and the Oxo Tower were of similar height to the headquarters element of the proposals.

鈥淎lthough comparable in height to these existing buildings, the ITV headquarters would have a reduced visual impact in comparison to these buildings,鈥� they said. 鈥淭he proposal would be significantly set back from the River Thames with a dense green screen in front reducing its visual prominence.鈥�

They added that the elevation of the scheme closest to the Thames would not have a continuous frontage because its two tallest elements were separated by a glazed atrium and differing heights meaning 鈥渢he buildings do not appear in views as one large imposing block, but rather as individual well-proportioned buildings separated鈥�.

Officers said that the dimensions of the new tower were similar to the existing one 鈥渁lbeit slightly taller鈥� 鈥� 104m compared with 88m, and that the proposed structure would be 鈥渕ore refined鈥� with an 鈥渆legant silhouette鈥�.

They added that the principal material for the tower would be 鈥渁 bespoke reconstituted stone fa莽ade鈥� expected to match Portland stone as closely as possible.