The Arches, Royal Street Masterplan

Feilden Fowles were appointed by Stanhope to work on the Royal Street development alongside five other esteemed architecture practices. The masterplan consists of five plots providing life sciences workspace, housing and affordable office with improvements to the wider public realm. Feilden Fowles brief was to transform the space below a railway viaduct leading to Waterloo station into a dynamic affordable office space. The project will be carried out over two key phases with the site first being utilised for site offices, staff welfare and a construction skills centre.

The proposals make a positive impact to the wider street scape, improving the gateway to the masterplan by providing active frontage to the surrounding streetscape. The scheme will animate the a new route to from Upper Marsh to Archbishops Park. A loggia to the northwest corner negotiates the existing site levels determined by the existing floor slab whilst creating a generous civic gesture to the north, providing sheltered access to the entrance from Upper Marsh. The main entrance to the building is placed centrally on the low line drawing people through the newly formed street.

The Feilden Fowles proposals focus on retaining the existing structure and preserving existing levels, minimising the building’s carbon footprint and limiting alterations to the Network Rail asset. The project is targeting Breeam Outstanding, this will be achieved by using a sustainable palette of materials with robust detailing to ensure the project is robust and performs efficiently.