20-storey block will be ‘foothill’ to Blackfriars tower cluster

Plans by Kennedy Wilson Real Estate to redevelop Friars Bridge Court – the existing 10-storey office building at the junction of Blackfriars Road and Meymott Street – were exhibited for the first time this week.

The proposed 20-storey tower has been designed by PLP Architecture. At 83.9 metres, it will be slightly shorter than the 89-metre tower at 240 Blackfriars Road.

The display boards at the public exhibition described the tower as a 'foothill' to the cluster of tall buildings to be constructed at the northern end of Blackfriars Road, where towers up to 50 storeys high are to be built.

The proposed scheme would have three shop or cafe units at ground floor level, with one facing Blackfriars Road, another on Meymott Street and a third on Colombo Street.

A planning application is due to be submitted to Southwark Council next month. Kennedy Wilson hopes that the planning committee will consider the scheme in July, with demolition beginning in March 2017.

If all runs to time, the new building could be completed by the end of 2019.