English Heritage Support for King Alfred Redevelopment
English Heritage is confident that the proposals for the redevelopment of the King Alfred site will gain their approval.
Karis, Frank Gehry and members of the design team met with English Heritage on 20 January to clarify elements of the scheme and provide additional information. Following these discussions English Heritage has stated in a letter to the City Council: “We are convinced that a scheme that we could support is achievable”.
Previous advice offered by English Heritage focused on three areas: the perimeter blocks, views and the public realm.
English Heritage has now advised that they are convinced that the scale of the perimeter blocks is acceptable. The letter further states that the impact of the proposals on long and medium range views is minimal and has been dealt with satisfactorily. The letter offers advice regarding the design of the perimeter blocks and the layout of the public realm, issues which are already being addressed by Karis/ING.
Karis Managing Director Josh Arghiros said: “We welcome the support of English Heritage and we are encouraged by their advice. Frank Gehry and the design team have spent two years designing this project and we are confident that any outstanding issues can be resolved to the satisfaction of English Heritage.”
Karis is working to provide further information for English Heritage and will be submitting a revised environmental impact statement to address outstanding issues within the next few weeks.
Background Information:
The King Alfred Project is a £290 million mixed use development by Karis/ING Real Estate Developments UK Limited. The project is being designed by Frank Gehry and will provide a state of the art indoor sport and swimming centre, designed in collaboration with HOK Sport; 754 homes, including 280 affordable homes; new public realm including artwork by British sculptor Antony Gormley.
