Lambeth Fire Station aka Florian Place

The wonderful (and thankfully Grade II listed) 1937 building which houses the Lambeth Fire Station (and was formerly the HQ of the London Fire Brigade) is to be converted into a very mixed use scheme by developers Native Land. I say "very" because as well as flats and commercial space there will still be a Fire Station.

A public exhibition outlining the plans for what will be known as "Florian Place" will take place at the Fire Station (8 Albert Embankment, SE1 7SP) this weekend:

• Friday 11 February 2011 2pm - 6pm
• Saturday 12 February 2011 10:30am - 1:30pm

Here's the press release from the Native Land website:

Native Land has applied for detailed planning consent at Florian Place, a 400,000 sq ft mixed used scheme on Albert Embankment in the London Borough of Lambeth.

The scheme designed by award winning architectural practice Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, is situated on a 2.5 acre site and incorporates the former headquarters of the London Fire Brigade which Native Land purchased from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority in 2008.

Florian Place will include approximately 360 apartments together with mixed tenure affordable housing, retail, restaurant and business space. The existing fire station will be extended and refurbished to provide a modern community facility.

The fire drill tower and the Brigade’s memorials will be retained, as will the Grade II listed headquarters building, which is to be converted into prime residential apartments offering spectacular views of the Thames and the Palace of Westminster.

The proposed masterplan creates two first floor courtyard roof gardens as shared, private amenity space for the residents of Florian Place. The scheme will also provide a new public piazza at the southern end of Lambeth High Street, which will create a safe, vibrant public space that can be used by residents and the local community.

Alasdair Nicholls, CEO of Native Land said “The Florian Place masterplan has been designed with careful understanding of the site context whilst responding to the wider townscape setting. This development will be a new, vibrant addition to London’s South Bank.”

I can't find the planning application on the awful, simply awful, Lambeth Planning website so here's a drawing instead.

If nothing else this post is an excuse for me to include a picture of one of the delightful friezes on the front of the building.

Update (10/02/11): I stand politely corrected. The stuff on the Native Land website all refers to a previous application.