Lambeth Council granted consent for the mixed-use scheme at 6 Canterbury Crescent and 49 Brixton Station Road, on behalf of developer London Square, at a meeting on Tuesday (24 March) night. Councillors voted five against one.
PTE’s scheme will create 288 homes, 40 per cent of which will be for social rent measured by habitable room, in buildings rising to 18 and 20 storeys, plus a six-floor block.
It would also include 4,000m² of workspace; market storage and waste facilities; and other retail, commercial and community space, as well as play amenities and public realm designed by Exterior Architecture.
The 0.9ha site sits immediately north and east of Brixton Recreation Centre and is currently home to Pop Brixton – a pop-up meanwhile use space designed by Carl Turner Architects, which opened in 2015 in 50 recycled shipping containers.
Meanwhile, International House, which was designed by Lambeth council architect George Finch alongside Brixton Recreation Centre, will be refurbished under the plans, extended by two floors to a total of 14 storeys and converted into housing from its current use as flexible workspace.
Kaye Stout, managing partner at Pollard Thomas Edwards, said: ‘We’re thrilled to secure planning permission for this major project for Brixton. Throughout the co‑design process, residents, traders, young people and local groups spoke up with real clarity and passion. Their support showed just how strongly the community believes in the positive change this scheme can bring.’
He added: ‘We listened carefully to what matters, from the location of the enterprise hub to the design of workspace and public spaces, ensuring the design reflects the priorities of Lambeth residents.
‘By welcoming more than a thousand new residents, including hundreds of families, the project will boost the local economy and strengthen everyday life in Brixton’s markets and businesses. This approval is a major step toward a more inclusive, thriving Brixton – shaped with and for its community.’
PTE said in planning documents submitted late last year that the project was ‘a significant regeneration scheme within Brixton’s town centre and has been progressed in partnership between the London Borough of Lambeth as landowner and London Square’.
It added that the scheme would deliver ‘much-needed’ dwellings for this part of the capital.
According to the planning documents, ‘The homes at 49 Brixton Station Road will have access to shared landscaped gardens and play, in addition to private balconies or terraces.
PTE said: ‘The homes in the carefully restored International House will benefit from winter gardens, creating larger homes and shared resident communal areas on the lower levels.’
West Architecture previously secured planning on a rooftop extension of International House in 2019 to create additional office space. However, those plans fell through.
PTE’s scheme sits near BPTW’s proposal for 378 homes on 0.9ha site on Somerleyton Road, which were approved in September. Meanwhile, the developer behind a controversial Adjaye Associates-designed tower on Popes Road was withdrawn in 2023 following local objections.