Vauxhall Is about to Get a Student Skyscraper

Award winning architects are about to begin building a 32 storey skyscraper in Nine Elms, Vauxhall - just for student accommodation.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio - the architects behind the Leeds student tower block named the 'world's best tall building' - have teamed up with Liverpool's largest private commercial landlord Downing for the 'Atlas' construction.

Downing have currently developed over 8000 student bedrooms with a value of £600m, and have a further 5500 student bedrooms under development.

Atlas, which will be built next to the new American embassy site, will offer 534 en-suite studio bedrooms, a commercial leisure centre, and a 25m swimming pool. The development will have a triangular shape, encouraging student interaction by arranging each bedroom around a communal lounge and corner kitchen.

In terms of aesthetics, the designers are planning a mix of glazed and unglazed ceramic tiles of light shades and earth tones - a reference to Lambeth's 17th and 18th century pottery and ceramics industry. The architects are also working with Wintech, a facade engineering consultant, who have developed the 'Terracotta cladding system', with an algorithm especially designed to randomly distribute the colours.

The development is due to be completed in 2017.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Creative Commons.