Client
Treasury Holdings Properties Ltd
Budget
£
18M
Status
Feasibility Study completed
Structural and Environmental Engineers
Arup
Cost Consultants
Boyden & Co
» Download Project Sheet (PDF) |
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Commissioned in November 1998 to Master Plan the re-development
of Richard Seifert's Tolworth Tower (1963) identified two options -
the first consisted of refurbishing the North Wing as air conditioned
offices and building a new four storey hotel above the existing parking
decks, the second demolishing the North Wing and building a large leisure
complex on the North Western side of the site beyond M & S. The
site includes a 22 storey office tower, a low level office block (the
North Wing) 650 parking spaces on four levels, a major Marks and Spencers
food store on the ground floor, and a parade of retail units.
A Leisure scheme for the redevelopment of Tolworth Tower proposes a mixed
use with differing requirements for programme, access, and time in use,
but one which supports the premise of bringing activities back into the
town centre environment throughout the day and evening.
The proposal is to demolish the North Wing office building of approximately
95,000 sq ft., and build a new 180,000 sq ft leisure facility on four
floors above the existing parking decks, consisting of a floor of restaurants
and retail spaces, two floors of cinema auditoria, and a top floor health
club under a lightweight dome structure.
Multiplex cinemas are inherently bulky buildings which have until recently
been housed in large scale roadside 'sheds'. The new planning policies
propose a more integrated approach to this building type which will inevitably
lead to more multiplexes being brought forward as a part of mixed use
schemes such as that proposed at Tolworth Tower in town centre locations.
The circular plan shape of the proposal derived from formulating the
most efficient arrangement on the limited site area available. The screens
are positioned side by side but with angled walls which when connected
together form a circle. Smaller screens are stacked over two storeys
adjacent to larger stadium type auditoria which are essentially double
height. One central two level projection room is able to control all
the projection equipment for all 14 screens. A double layered skin allows
circulation elements and service ducts to wrap around the auditorium.
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