Lambeth Council approves Heatherwick’s Garden Bridge design

Lambeth Council is to proceed with London’s controversial Garden Bridge over the River Thames project, designed by Thomas Heatherwick and Dan Pearson.

With this latest approval, the Garden Bridge Trust has received part of the required permissions for the project construction.

Aimed at connecting the South Bank and Covent Garden, the proposed 367m bridge is yet to be considered by Westminster Council, which will review the plans on 2 December.

The project is valued at around £150m and is being jointly developed by Heatherwick Studio together with engineers from Arup and landscape designer Dan Pearson.

“The bridge will be an extraordinarily special place, either to race across, relax in or look back at the rest of the city’s sights.”

Additionally, the proposal for the pedestrian crossing involves two fluted piers holding up a path of trees and shrubs.

Heatherwick said: “The bridge will be an extraordinarily special place, either to race across, relax in or look back at the rest of the city’s sights.

“It is fantastic that the borough of Lambeth has helped London to take one step closer to making it a reality.”

However, the scheme has been opposed by campaign group Thames Central Open Space, which presented around 800 signatures claiming that the park would be better suited elsewhere in the capital.

Successfully attaining planning permissions would pave the way for construction to start in 2016, with commissioning in 2018.