Introduction
Nova is Landsec’s exciting development linking Victoria station, Buckingham Palace and the Royal Parks in the heart of Westminster. This substantial scheme comprises a mix of world class office space, high quality residential apartments, retail units and 17 new restaurant destinations, together with a significantly improved public realm. The generous street-level public spaces are complemented by active facades and pockets of desirable areas of public realm designed to capture the eye of the 115 million commuters, visitors, workers and residents who reside and travel through the ever popular Victoria station.
On behalf of Landsec, and working with a the PLP Architecture-led design team, the team at Momentum was pivotal in ensuring numerous successful planning applications for the scheme as well as securing a significant transport benefits package as part of the Section 106 agreement. Momentum assisted in the successful delivery of a hidden operations strategy comprising of priority basement level parking, temperature controlled storage facilities to ensure deliveries can be taken around the clock and a waste strategy tucked away out of sight within the basement. Momentum also led the development of operation strategies in the basement ranging from planning how deliveries would be made and transferred to relevant parts of the development, to waste collection through to differing controlled basement access arrangements for residents and delivery drivers. We also assisted in devising a public realm strategy that ensured pedestrian permeability aligning with onward connections and the activation of retail and restaurants throughout the development.
Momentum led the preparation of the detailed design of over £10m of Section 278 highway and transport improvement works surrounding the development, securing full approvals with both Westminster City Council and Transport for London as highway authorities. With the realignment of highways, wider footways, new crossing facilities, new bus stands and stops, Momentum’s work has been instrumental in transforming Victoria into a people-focused destination. We have navigated the challenges associated with integration with the Victoria Station upgrade project, working with the Victoria Palace Theatre as they worked to renovate in time for the opening of Hamilton, and have worked in close collaboration with TfL and Westminster City Council to reinvigorate this part of London. We have continued to work alongside Contractors Mace and Blu-3 as Resident Engineers / Site Supervisors as they have constructed the scheme to the high standards we expect and envisaged in the design phase.
Our current focus is on providing a new contraflow arrangement to rationalise bus movements around the redeveloped area. We are also undertaking the pedestrianisation of Allington Street, upgrading its public realm to the same high quality as the rest of the Nova estate.
