A wellness-focused mega development in London has received full planning consent, with the scheme expected on-site this year and a completion date of 2030.

The Round, at 18 Blackfriars Road in Southwark, London, has been designed by architects Foster + Partners for global real estate developer Hines, which has US$90 billion of assets under management in 30 countries.

Arup will drive construction while Knight Frank is the property agent.

The £2bn (US$2.6bn, €2.3bn) development will cover 1 million sq ft (92,903 sq m) and include wellness features designed to enhance the physical and mental wellbeing of both residents and visitors.

Included are two residential skyscrapers and a third for ‘wellbeing-led’ office space for 5,000 people over 45-floors and 800,000 sq ft (74,322 sq m) .

The inclusion of a 300-seat auditorium, accessible cultural space and a public plaza will allow events and cultural programming to be on offer all year round, while retailing and wellness amenities will round out the offering for residents, visitors and office workers.

The Round has been conceived as the first high rise building in the UK to achieve the International Well Building Institute’s Well Community Gold Standard – a global design benchmark for healthy communities.

Pillar Wellbeing, led by Oli Patrick and Harry Jameson, is driving the development of the wellness facilities, collaborating with designers to establish an offering that will address social isolation, depression and anxiety via a wellbeing matrix spanning environment, movement, mindset, social, nutrition and recovery.

These will include things such as hot and cold therapy rooms, napping pods and digital detox spaces, as well as sports and fitness facilities and activities such as art therapy, breathwork and meditation classes.

“The Round…will offer solutions to pervasive societal issues such as social isolation, mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, increased incidences of dementia, chronic underactivity and increases in cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes,” Patrick told The Standard.

Enhanced connections with nature are also at the heart of the plans, which show a rooftop terrace and garden every three floors, offering more terraces than any other London tower. Sixty-nine new trees will also be planted on-site to improve biodiversity and the microclimate, while providing shade and shelter.

The scheme will be built on land formerly occupied by a hat factory, that has remained undeveloped for 20 years and is expected to be London’s lowest whole-life carbon high-rise development. It has been designed to be fossil fuel-free, 100 per cent electric, net zero carbon when in operation and 95 per cent of the demand for heat on the site will be generated by ground source heat pumps.

The development will be pedestrian-friendly and car-free, being within walking distance of seven bridges over the river Thames, three railway stations and several cycle highways.

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