CSCB Doon Street Press Release 12-02-08rev

							COIN STREET COMMUNITY BUILDERS
PRESS RELEASE
8 February 2008




Proposed new public indoor swimming & leisure    Proposed new public square and access to/from
centre                                           Waterloo bridge and Waterloo station



INQUIRY INTO DOON STREET PROPOSALS STARTS
The public inquiry into Coin Street Community Builders’ (CSCB) proposals for a public
swimming and indoor leisure centre and residential development on London’s South
Bank starts on Tuesday 12 February.

CSCB is a leading social enterprise and development trust with established strong
track record: it has been responsible for transforming a largely derelict 13 acre site into
a thriving mixed neighbourhood, now one of London’s most visited areas. Since 1984
it has developed 220 co-operative homes for those in need; created gardens, a
riverside walkway, and shops, restaurants and bars at Gabriel’s Wharf and Oxo Tower
Wharf. From its new Coin Street neighbourhood centre CSCB provides an integrated
range of programmes for families and children including a 64-place nursery and out of
school programme; access to training and employment opportunities; and business
and social enterprise support. All of its members are local residents.

The scheme & planning
The Doon Street scheme is a major mixed development (adjacent to the National
Theatre on Upper Ground, London SE1) master-planned by architects Lifschutz
Davidson Sandilands and set out in three complementary planning applications:

    1. An educational/office building with adjacent town square and direct connection
       to Waterloo Bridge
    2. Rambert Dance Company’s new headquarters and three dance studios
    3. 329 flats and a public swimming and indoor leisure centre

All three applications were approved by Lambeth Council in August 2007 and by the
Mayor of London in September 2007. On 25 September 2007, the Secretary of State
announced that Lambeth Council could issue consents for the proposals for the
western half of the site (the Waterloo bridge end – applications 1 & 2) but wished the
application for the eastern end (application 3) to come to her for decision after being
examined in a public inquiry.

Benefiting London and the local community
The scheme offers substantial social, environmental and economic benefits to London,
to Lambeth and Southwark, and to the local community including:
•   A much needed public swimming and indoor leisure centre including an 8 lane 25m
    swimming pool and learner pool, a 120 piece gymnasium, two aerobics studios, a
    4 court multi-purpose sports hall, changing village, café and crèche. Like the
    recently opened Swiss Cottage leisure centre (which has similar facilities), it will be
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    operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited, one of the country’s most successful
    social enterprises.
    The area has been designated by the Government as London’s only Sports Action
    Zone because of its poor facilities and low engagement in sports and physical
    activity. Southwark has London’s highest proportion of obese children, and obesity
    is rapidly overtaking smoking as the single greatest cause of premature death. The
    Doon Street leisure centre is expected to attract 576,000 visits each year and will
    have a range of targeted health programmes.

    Transformation of a site which has remained largely derelict for over 50 years into
    a thriving mixed use development designed by one of the country’s leading
    architectural practices, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands – designers of the nearby
    Golden Jubilee pedestrian footbridges over the Thames, the refurbished Oxo
    Tower Wharf and the Broadwall Housing development (1994 winner of the Royal
    Fine Arts Commission/Sunday Times Building of the Year Award). The overall
    development incorporates a tall (144.3m), slender residential tower, public uses at
    ground level, a new town square with lift and stairs to Waterloo Bridge, the new
    Rambert Dance Company headquarters and dance studios (designed by Allies &
    Morrison Architects), the public swimming and indoor leisure centre and a new
    education/office building. The proposals are being supported by the National
    Theatre, the Southbank Centre, the Tate Gallery, local MP Kate Hoey, the South
    Bank Employers’ Group, Lambeth Council, the Mayor of London and many other
    organisations and individuals. The principal opponents are English Heritage and
    Westminster Council.

    329 new homes: these not only bring new life to the area but the sale of the homes
    funds most of the approx. £25m capital cost of the leisure centre and also an
    annual cross-subsidy (secured under a Section 106 Agreement) so that the leisure
    centre is managed and maintained to the highest standards whilst remaining
    affordable to all.


Iain Tuckett, Coin Street’s Group Director, says:

“Our proposals seek to secure and sustain much-needed community facilities and
programmes on a long term basis utilising social enterprise principles and an
architectural and urban design solution of the highest quality. They continue the
process of changing the South Bank from the bleak hostile area it was in the 1970s to
a thriving, diverse, mixed use neighbourhood which offers hope for London’s future.”



PRESS CONTACTS
Louise King at Coin Street Community Builders on 020 7021 1681
l.king@coinstreet.org

Harriet Swatman at Stratton Reekie on 020 7287 8456
hswatman@strattonandreekie.com
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NOTE TO EDITORS:

1. Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) is a development trust and social
   enterprise which seeks to make the South Bank a better place in which to live, to
   work and to visit. Since 1984 CSCB has transformed a largely derelict site into a
   thriving mixed use neighbourhood. It has overseen the completion of the South
   Bank riverside walkway; the creation of Bernie Spain Gardens, Gabriel’s Wharf
   and Oxo Tower Wharf; and the building of 220 new homes for people in housing
   need. CSCB provides a diverse range of arts activities and events in Bargehouse,
   the.gallery@oxo, and through the annual Coin Street Festival. From its new Coin
   Street neighbourhood centre on Stamford Street, CSCB provides an integrated
   range of programmes for families and children including a 64-place nursery and
   out of school activities. The centre also provides meeting and conference venues,
   access to training and employment opportunities and business and social
   enterprise support.
   Press contact: Louise King 020 7021 1681 l.king@coinstreet.org


2. CSCB design team
   Architect: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
   Engineers: Arup
   QS: Davis Langdon LLP
   Planning: Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners
   Townscape: Montagu Evans LLP


3. Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) was formed in 1986 and has been working
   on the South Bank and with Coin Street Community Builders since 1989. The
   practice has completed masterplans and individual buildings, including Oxo Tower
   Wharf and Broadwall housing, as well as public realm projects such as the Upper
   Ground spine route improvements and the Hungerford footbridges, completed in
   2003. LDS is currently working on a site close by at St George's Circus designing
   an integrated Student Hub and Primary Care Centre for London South Bank
   University. In addition there is work ongoing on a new Millennium Community in
   Telford and a Jewish Community Centre in north London.
   Press contact: Harriet Swatman, Stratton and Reekie on 020 7287 8456
   hswatman@strattonandreekie.com


4. GLL (Greenwich Leisure Limited) is an employee-owned society that exists for the
   benefits of the community. Based on charitable objectives, GLL is a non-profit
   distributing organisation, which operates 67 public leisure centres within the M25
   area in partnership with twelve London Boroughs, Epsom & Ewell Council
   Borough, Reading Borough Council, Bellingham Community Project, the London
   Development Agency and London Playing Fields Foundation. GLL is the UK’s
   most successful leisure trust.
   Press contact: Carole Pendle, Pendle PR 07768 462601
   carole.pendle@gll.org
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5. Images available
   High resolution images are available on request from Louise King at Coin Street
   Community Builders on 020 7021 1681 l.king@coinstreet.org
   All CGIs by Hayes Davidson.




Image 1: view of along Upper Ground from Waterloo Bridge




Image 2: Indoor swimming and leisure centre     Image 3: New public square Image




4: View from north of river                     5: View from Waterloo Bridge




6: Aerial view                                7: Section

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