Planners give go-ahead for 21,500-capacity music venue in east London
Controversial plans for a Populous-designed 21,500-capacity spherical music venue at Stratford, in east London, have been approved.
The Sphere will be entertainment giant Madison Square Garden Company’s first venue outside the United States and was last night backed by members of the London Legacy Development Corporation’s planning decisions committee by six votes to four.
An LLDC planning report recommended the 90m tall proposals for the green light – despite hundreds of objections to the project submitted as part of the consultation process.
The document said 1,364 responses had been received with 852 opposing the plans, with the report adding that “recurring themes in opposition are the lack of need for the development as well as its scale, massing and form”.
Architect Populous was responsible for transforming RSHP’s Millennium Dome into the O2 venue and also designed the 2012 Olympic Stadium, a stone’s throw from the site earmarked for its latest proposals.
Its plans for the Sphere will see the 17,500-21,500-capacity venue wrapped in triangular LED panels that will show a range of static and moving images including digital art, promotional material for the venue, and adverts.
The venue will occupy a 1.9ha triangular site between railway lines next to the Westfield shopping centre and close to the London Stadium – the former Olympic stadium – now the home of West Ham United.
A smaller 1,500 capacity venue is also planned at the Sphere site along with restaurant and retail space. The scheme will include building new bridges over neighbouring railway lines.
O2 owner Anschutz Entertainment Group called the scheme “seriously inadequate and flawed” and said the venue was in the wrong location given the London Stadium, the Copper Box as well as the O2 are all close by. AEG has said the scheme posed “a serious and dangerous impact on local transport infrastructure”.
MSG said the 20,000-capacity O2 and the 12,500-capacity Wembley Arena were the only two venues in London capable of hosting bands that embark on world and European tours.
英国历史学家警告说，球体会对附近的保护区造成一些破坏，因为它的高度、密度和“对环境的干扰”。
然而，在一份209页的报告中，LLDC的主要规划开发经理丹尼尔·戴维斯(Daniel Davies)表示，“该开发项目被认为符合市中心的环境，并将使文化和夜间活动多样化。”报告补充说，批评人士声称会受到破坏的遗产资产不会受到“直接损害”，比如海上格林威治世界遗产遗址和几座当地列入名录的建筑，包括二级斯特拉特福德市政厅。
The report concluded: “Officers consider that the significant public benefits of the proposed development justify granting planning permission…with the proposed conditions and obligations to be secured by legal agreement [meaning] the impacts of the scheme can be neutralised or reduced to an acceptable degree.”
LLDC’s approval for the Sphere still requires the backing of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
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