Zig-zag tower could become 'benchmark' for future design in London's Vauxhall area, says design watchdog

Make's “Zig Zag Tower” in Lambeth has received enthusiastic support from the design review panel of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe).

The 47-storey residential tower is proposed for 69-71 Bondway in the London district of Vauxhall. The government's design watchdog said it had been designed with “elegant massing” and “good proportions” and went so far as to say it could be a “benchmark for the quality of future developments in the potential cluster of towers at Vauxhall”.

Make's design for the 69-71 Bondway tower in Vauxhall
Make's design for the 69-71 Bondway tower in Vauxhall

The design review panel did have some reservations, recommending the use of copper or timber instead of a wholly stainless steel facade and asking for more “refinement” of the form of the building's canopies.

As Make's scheme is likely to be the first of several tall buildings in the Vauxhall area, Cabe urged the local authority to ensure that it was constructed to the highest possible levels of architectural excellence.

Cabe's overwhelmingly positive review of the scheme is yet more good news for Make, just a few days after it was selected as the architect for the £250m Brighton Centre development in the south of England.