London's newest theatre anchors Tower Bridge leisure development

A new leisure development next to London’s Tower Bridge is set for completion this month, featuring an Ivy restaurant and a brand new theatre established by acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner.

designed by architects Squire and Partners, One Tower Bridge has a prominent riverside location on Potters Fields Park, adjacent to the Grade I listed Tower Bridge.

The masterplan – conceived as a “lasting new piece of the city”, which articulates the transition between the contemporary architecture of the neighbouring More London development and the warehouse vernacular of Shad Thames street – features hotel and residential accommodation supported by significant cultural, leisure, restaurant and retail uses, as well as public realm created by landscape architect Gross Max.

Cambridge House, a low horizontal building clad in strips of limestone, houses 6,870sq m of cultural space, designed in collaboration with architects Haworth Tompkins, for the Bridge Theatre – established by impresarios Hytner and Nick Starr for their new London Theatre Company. It will open 18 October 2017.

Sharing the same palette and set within a central landscaped courtyard is The Tower, a 20 storey slender ‘campanile’ offering one apartment per floor, topped by a glazed garden terrace.

A new pedestrian route, Duchess Walk, has been created to maximise views through the site from Tooley Street to the south tower of Tower Bridge. This street is animated by shops, cafes as well as a spa and gymnasium.

“The mix of uses, streets and spaces create a natural addition to the local urban grain and a transition between Shad Thames to the east and More London to the west,” said studio founder Michael Squires. “The buildings complement Potters Fields Park rather than dominating it, while the materials and architectural composition of the facades to the various elements introduce a richness and variety appropriate to the location.”

Developer Berkeley Homes and the London Borough of Southwark were the clients behind the project.