Heliport Heights is heading to London
Heliport Heights is heading to London
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1/5 Stilted surprise
Heliport Heights, the final major London project from late British architect Will Alsop, will comprise 15 floors of apartments built on stilts above the existing five-storey Heliport House, next to the Heliport beside the River Thames.
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2/5 Made you stare
The eye-catching new building will feature multi-coloured balconies, irregular round windows and be clad in jagged panels of weathering steel.
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3/5 Bringing more art into the community
Each apartment will span a floor, bar the penthouse which spans the top two. There will be a small art gallery on the ground floor with a window displaying the work of local artists, while a mirrored, orb-like sculpture suspended from the new building's underside will serve as a conference room.
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4/5 Rocky road
The model of Heliport Heights from the Royal Academy Summer Show 2016. Planning permission was granted in 2014 but construction stalled after the project's developer Damsonetti UK went into administration last year. Financing is now back on track with work due to start within "the next few months".
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5/5 Classic Alsop style
The use of stilts is characteristic of Alsop's style, as seen in Peckham Library, which won him the Stirling Prize in 2000. His philosophy was always to aim, where possible to "knock nothing down", and the same thinking can be seen in the design of Heliport Heights.
A quirky 20-storey, orange steel apartment block with a suspended, mirrored conference pod is set to take its place along the river in Battersea by 2020.
Heliport Heights, the final major London project from late British architect Will Alsop, will comprise 15 floors of apartments built on stilts above the existing five-storey Heliport House beside the River Thames.
The eye-catching new building will feature multi-coloured balconies, irregular round windows and be clad in jagged panels of weathering steel.
Planning permission for the unconventional block was granted in 2014 but construction stalled after its developer Damsonetti UK went into administration last year.
Financing is now on track to be finalised at the end of the month, with building scheduled to begin on site within "the next few months", according to Alsop's studio aLL Design. Completion is expected two years later.
The three- and four-bedroom apartments with riverside balconies will each take up an entire floor.
The penthouse is designed to span two-storeys and will have a roof terrace.
There will be a small art gallery on the ground floor with a window displaying the work of local artists, while a mirrored, orb-like sculpture suspended from the new building's underside will serve as a conference room.
These additions are intended to spark interest within the surrounding community, with a new art trail planned for the area.
The use of stilts is characteristic of Alsop's style, as seen in Peckham Library, which won him the Stirling Prize in 2000.
The elevated design was intended to remove “barriers” to engagement with the library and reclaim space for the community. The conventional library layout was inverted, offering members of the public views across the whole of London from the reading rooms.
Alsop's philosophy was always to aim, where possible to "knock nothing down", and the same thinking can be seen in the design of Heliport Heights.
"Both designs avoid demolishing existing buildings and instead elevate the new structure up off the ground on stilts, over the existing architecture," said a spokesperson for aLL Studio.
"This reduces site waste, preserves a much-loved existing building and provides an interesting and unusual design aesthetic."
