Location: London, United Kingdom.

Architect: Pilbrow & Partners.

Pilbrow & Partners have been selected by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority to deliver a mixed-use masterplan on the Fire Brigades’ Headquarters’ site at 8 Albert Embankment. The site, located in the London Borough of Lambeth, covers an area of 1.06ha and benefits from excellent public transport accessibility. The development will include a bespoke hotel and rooftop restaurant, office spaces, retail, apartments, public space, a new museum and fire station. The scheme will also deliver space for over 1250 jobs across multiple sectors, 417 new homes including 142 affordable units. The proposals include a transformation of the public realm with four proposed public spaces connected by new routes across the site linking the proposals into the wider context. The public realm is activated by retail, restaurant, and affordable workspace. The design approach has been shaped by a detailed understanding of the issues raised in the 2010 application scheme. The proposals include the provision of ‘doorstep’ play space to address the intensification of development, and thereby achieve the regeneration aspirations for the site as set out in statutory policy. The scheme uniquely delivers a new fire station and the new London Fire Brigade Museum, which will provide a major addition to London’s cultural offer with strong local education and public safety outreach initiatives. The development will turn a dilapidated and acknowledged underused area of the Embankment into a regenerated heart for Lambeth and its now appropriately named High St.