ARCHITECTURE
Luckily for us, London is home to some of the world’s most phenomenal contemporary and classical architecture from St Paul’s to The Shard. Embassy Gardens, the vision of Ballymore Group CEO Sean Mulryan, is a new development that complements this iconic architecture and forms the heart of Nine Elms on the South Bank. Mulryan wanted the development to push the boundaries of design, construction and engineering and we can now see his vision coming to life. He said: “Walking into one of our developments should be a unique, breathtaking experience. I’m very passionate about the synergy between great design, architecture and art – and what it means for Ballymore buildings. For Ballymore, everything must be culturally led, art led and design led, that is always our focus.
To achieve this Mulryan teamed up with Terry Farrell who worked with Ballymore to create a master plan for Embassy Gardens. Farrell was recently asked whether a development like Embassy Gardens ought to be architecturally sympathetic or architecturally groundbreaking. He said: “Architecture is not that simple. Much like the World War Two Spitfire, parts of which were manufactured in the Art Deco factory that is now my home in Paddington, architecture and the concept of the aesthetic continually evolve.”
Nine Elms on the Southbank, the area in which Embassy Gardens is situated, spans an area equivalent to Mayfair and Belgravia combined. It is undoubtedly the most exciting chapter in the narrative of London and most likely the last time that the capital will see the creation of a new district as vast as this. Cllr Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth Council since 2011 and a councillor for the area since 1982, has had a very hands-on role in the development of the area and is co-chair of the Nine Elms Strategy Board. He recently confessed: “I feel incredibly proud to have been so involved in the development of the area. There is such great potential to improve the lives of so many people and change the landscape of central London”.
Embassy Gardens is the collective result of some of the industry’s most innovative minds.
Working with fantastic designers in these disciplines helps us make fantastic opening statements at our schemes. At Embassy Gardens we travelled to New York to photograph bricks in the old Meatpacking District to get the right colours; the brickwork at Embassy Gardens matches in terms of shades and texture. We wanted to create an environment with a distinctive character”
He added: “London embodies this and must continue to do so. We need to nurture its spirit and carefully conserve its history and classical architecture, but in doing so, we must not forget how varied the stories of different parts of London are. There does not need to be uniformity in the aesthetic of London, juxtaposition can be astonishingly beautiful.”
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Mayor of London Boris Johnson has also echoed this excitement for the development: “Undoubtedly the most exciting new chapter in the story of London and quite possibly the last time the capital will see the creation of such a completely new district.” With all eyes on the development Farrell believed “It was critical that Embassy Gardens reflects the history of the area, its future and its