Squire & Partners’ proposal for two towers beside Vauxhall bus station will leave the public feeling stranded on a traffic island, Terry Farrell told a government planning inspector this week.

Farrell and Michael Squire were both called to give evidence at a public inquiry, in what the latter described as a “prize fight between two architects”.

Speaking for Lambeth council, Farrell, who drew up a masterplan for the wider Vauxhall and Nine Elms area, argued that a better design could transform the site into a vibrant high street despite its location on one of London’s most notorious gyratory systems.

Squire is proposing two elliptical towers of up to 41 storeys on the Vauxhall Island site with flats over retail and a hotel. The space between the two would be covered, creating a “winter garden” and a through route for pedestrians coming from Nine Elms towards the stations. Retail pavilions would be added as demand grew from future developments.

But Farrell dismissed the canopy as decorative and said: “These towers don’t easily adapt to encourage enclosure. Small kiosks don’t provide the necessary enclosure. Four or five storeys of foothills can contribute to the enclosure needed to protect the town centre.”

He advised intensifying the development to create a traditional streetscape, and moving the public open space to the roofs of lower buildings.

“The Squire scheme shows little attempt to improve the diversity at street level and there is little contribution to the uses needed for a town centre,” he said.

“Car is still king and the gyratory is still dominant. Little is done for pedestrians to make them feel like they’re not stranded on the island.”

Lambeth’s planning consultant, Iwan Richards, described Squire’s scheme as “seriously lacking” and missing a “golden opportunity” to create a new heart for Vauxhall.
But Squire insisted his motivation had always been to give Vauxhall a heart.

The garden between his towers would be both a thoroughfare and an attractive place to linger over a coffee while waiting for a bus, he said.

“It’s absurd to say a four-storey-high garden would be public space,” he said of Farrell’s idea.

Developer Kylun is appealing against the council’s non-determination of the plans. Communities secretary Eric Pickles will make a final decision later this year.