History
Plans to build Sky Gardens Nine Elms were submitted by Fraser Property Development UK in 2008. The building was first designed by Amin Taha Architects and Careyjones Chapmantolcher; these plans comprised of a 120 metre tall tower with glass cladding. The original plans were rejected, but a revised proposal with less glass was submitted in 2010, designed solely by Careyjones Chapmantolcher. Lambeth Borough Council granted planning permission for the new proposal later that same year, a 36 storey tower which will house 239 residential apartments and 10,000 square metres of office space on the first seven floors of the building. Additionally, some retail space will be included in the project, and a low rise section neighbouring the main build will provide further affordable housing. Finally, the development will include a 2,500 square metre garden on its topmost floor, and a two-storey garden on the eighth floor. Described by Fraser Property Development UK as ‘sublime’, the gardens will be open exclusively to residents, for daytime relaxation, watching the sunset over London and after dark entertainment. The gardens will also include an area for residents to grow a weekly salad box for each nine months of the year.
Construction of the Sky Gardens Nine Elms began in 2014, after Mace were awarded the construction contract. The development is due to be fully completed in 2016. Once finished, residents of the building will enjoy 24 hour concierge service, and a selection of other amenities which include cleaning, laundry, transport and delivery services. A private leisure club, with state of the art equipment, will also be installed on the eighth floor, overlooking the garden below. According to the developers, a number of high profile residents are already due to move into the ‘exciting’ new development as they are particularly fond of the spacious and contemporary environment afforded by the Nine Elms building.
Our Version of Events
After spending a day in London and failing to get any explores done, we ended up by the riverside somewhere in Lambeth with some bevvies, following the heads up Slayaaaa had given us about a big doable building somewhere around here. First though, since we felt incredibly disappointed with ourselves, and in need of some entertainment, we decided to make the most out of a bad situation and try out the legendary Boris Bikes we’d heard so much about. It took a while to figure out how to hire the bastard things, and what surprise terms and conditions we might encounter if we broke one, but we eventually succeeded. The next half an hour – because the first half an hour is ‘free’ – was spent drinking cans and bombing up and down the waterfront, trying hard to pop wheelies on the bikes.
Thanks to Boris, many minutes were wasted, until it suddenly dawned on us that we could use the bikes to find the location a lot more quickly than we would if we walked across the city. In our effort to cope with life in London, where there’s no fucking around and everyone seems to do everything as quickly as possible, we’d copied the Londoners and decided to abandon the car, to avoid driving around the insanely busy streets and save our parking spot. So, after our light-bulb moment, we sent a couple of the lads to do the scouting while the rest of us finished the bevvies off.
Several minutes later, with some scouting done and the location found, we made our way over to the building. Once we got there, it seemed as though a party was in progress in some of the flats adjacent to where we planned to enter the site. However, as it was getting late and everyone was feeling discontented with the day so far, we chanced it and decided to risk being seen. To be honest, all the party-goers looked quite drunk anyway and seemed too focused on booze or boobs, so I doubt they were paying much attention to what was happening on the street below.
Despite checking before we entered, we were still unsure whether there was any security onsite, so we crept through the building with ninja-like efficiency. If truth be told, we did accidently end up in the basement before we found the main tower’s staircase, but we found our way eventually. As they say in Japan, a ninja follows his heart, not his brain. Once in the stairwell, we had a subtle feeling that things were going too well, so we began to expect that some form of security guard was going to emerge at any point. With that in mind, we legged it up the stairs as fast as possible for – for a few floors anyway, until we realised we had another thirty floors to go…
Many steps later, we emerged on the last few floors, gasping for air. Since the staircase didn’t seem to be finished we had to climb up three or four ladders to reach the very top. The ladders were a welcome change to the stairs though. As for our surroundings, none of the windows have been added on the top floors, so it was blowing a gale. Of course, while it was a bit cooler, we felt a lot more comfortable knowing any security wouldn’t be able to hear our footsteps up here. I took in the first views of the roof of the building. Unfortunately, the sides were too high to see the city, but there was that sense of achievement that we’d reached the very top.
Explored with Ford Mayhem, Meek-Kune-Do and Husky.
Plans to build Sky Gardens Nine Elms were submitted by Fraser Property Development UK in 2008. The building was first designed by Amin Taha Architects and Careyjones Chapmantolcher; these plans comprised of a 120 metre tall tower with glass cladding. The original plans were rejected, but a revised proposal with less glass was submitted in 2010, designed solely by Careyjones Chapmantolcher. Lambeth Borough Council granted planning permission for the new proposal later that same year, a 36 storey tower which will house 239 residential apartments and 10,000 square metres of office space on the first seven floors of the building. Additionally, some retail space will be included in the project, and a low rise section neighbouring the main build will provide further affordable housing. Finally, the development will include a 2,500 square metre garden on its topmost floor, and a two-storey garden on the eighth floor. Described by Fraser Property Development UK as ‘sublime’, the gardens will be open exclusively to residents, for daytime relaxation, watching the sunset over London and after dark entertainment. The gardens will also include an area for residents to grow a weekly salad box for each nine months of the year.
Construction of the Sky Gardens Nine Elms began in 2014, after Mace were awarded the construction contract. The development is due to be fully completed in 2016. Once finished, residents of the building will enjoy 24 hour concierge service, and a selection of other amenities which include cleaning, laundry, transport and delivery services. A private leisure club, with state of the art equipment, will also be installed on the eighth floor, overlooking the garden below. According to the developers, a number of high profile residents are already due to move into the ‘exciting’ new development as they are particularly fond of the spacious and contemporary environment afforded by the Nine Elms building.
Our Version of Events
After spending a day in London and failing to get any explores done, we ended up by the riverside somewhere in Lambeth with some bevvies, following the heads up Slayaaaa had given us about a big doable building somewhere around here. First though, since we felt incredibly disappointed with ourselves, and in need of some entertainment, we decided to make the most out of a bad situation and try out the legendary Boris Bikes we’d heard so much about. It took a while to figure out how to hire the bastard things, and what surprise terms and conditions we might encounter if we broke one, but we eventually succeeded. The next half an hour – because the first half an hour is ‘free’ – was spent drinking cans and bombing up and down the waterfront, trying hard to pop wheelies on the bikes.
Thanks to Boris, many minutes were wasted, until it suddenly dawned on us that we could use the bikes to find the location a lot more quickly than we would if we walked across the city. In our effort to cope with life in London, where there’s no fucking around and everyone seems to do everything as quickly as possible, we’d copied the Londoners and decided to abandon the car, to avoid driving around the insanely busy streets and save our parking spot. So, after our light-bulb moment, we sent a couple of the lads to do the scouting while the rest of us finished the bevvies off.
Several minutes later, with some scouting done and the location found, we made our way over to the building. Once we got there, it seemed as though a party was in progress in some of the flats adjacent to where we planned to enter the site. However, as it was getting late and everyone was feeling discontented with the day so far, we chanced it and decided to risk being seen. To be honest, all the party-goers looked quite drunk anyway and seemed too focused on booze or boobs, so I doubt they were paying much attention to what was happening on the street below.
Despite checking before we entered, we were still unsure whether there was any security onsite, so we crept through the building with ninja-like efficiency. If truth be told, we did accidently end up in the basement before we found the main tower’s staircase, but we found our way eventually. As they say in Japan, a ninja follows his heart, not his brain. Once in the stairwell, we had a subtle feeling that things were going too well, so we began to expect that some form of security guard was going to emerge at any point. With that in mind, we legged it up the stairs as fast as possible for – for a few floors anyway, until we realised we had another thirty floors to go…
Many steps later, we emerged on the last few floors, gasping for air. Since the staircase didn’t seem to be finished we had to climb up three or four ladders to reach the very top. The ladders were a welcome change to the stairs though. As for our surroundings, none of the windows have been added on the top floors, so it was blowing a gale. Of course, while it was a bit cooler, we felt a lot more comfortable knowing any security wouldn’t be able to hear our footsteps up here. I took in the first views of the roof of the building. Unfortunately, the sides were too high to see the city, but there was that sense of achievement that we’d reached the very top.
Explored with Ford Mayhem, Meek-Kune-Do and Husky.
Artist's impression of the building.
Artist's impression of the gardens.
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
Artist's impression of the gardens.
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
