Last modified on Mon 1 Feb 2021 04.01 EST
Coronavirus has pulled the plug on the live music business, and scientists are warning physical distancing restrictions may have to continue until Christmas, but one entertainment company is pushing ahead with plans to build a gigantic concert venue in London.
The US’s Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) – which owns the New York concert and sports venue – is planning to upstage the Millennium Dome with a globe-shaped structure called the MSG Sphere.
In the face of opposition from local people, the project is awaiting planning approval for a site in Stratford, just north of the dome, also known as the O2 Arena. The enormous building, measuring over 90 metres high and 120 metres wide, would contain a nightclub, bars, restaurants and shops, as well as a concert hall, which could welcome 21,500 people. This would make the Sphere bigger than any of the UK’s current concert venues, including the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena, and the
Karakusevic Carson’s ‘oppressive’ east London towers rejected
1/17 CGI of proposed KCA scheme
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Plans for three towers in east London by Karakusevic Carson Architects have been rejected by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) after planners branded them ‘oppressive’
The practice submitted plans for Phase 3 of Bow River Village, a development along the River Lea south of Bow Roundabout, on behalf of housing association Southern Housing Group in 2019.
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The three brick towers would each have stood at 26 storeys, or 99m, with podiums of nine, seven and two storeys. The designs provided 435 homes, 2,750m² of commercial space and some shops.
EBBA’s pop-up construction school starts on Olympic Park site
1/11 Proposed visual
Source: EBBA
Source: EBBA
Source: EBBA
Source: EBBA
Source: EBBA
Source: EBBA
Work has started on EBBA Architects’ temporary construction skills school on the edge of the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London
The five-year project will be run by the Construction Industry Training Board and The Skills Centre and aims to provide ‘valuable skills-based hands-on learning to local people’, says the emerging practice.
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EBBA Architects was appointed to the project after an invited competition in mid-2019 and the scheme was granted planning permission later that year.
Readers letters
A computer-generated image of the proposed MSG Sphere in Stratford
- Credit: MSG
Still time to comment on Sphere
Ian Sinclair, McGrath Road, Stratford, writes:
As the legendary Labour MP Tony Benn was fond of saying: “The ruling classes always control us. The first way is to frighten us, the second way is to divide us, the third way is to demoralize us. And the fourth way is to make us cynical.”
It is certainly easy to feel demoralised, especially when it comes to opposing the proposed Madison Square Garden Sphere in Stratford.
However, it’s important to realise the opposition to the corporate development has lots of support. For example, London Assembly member for City and East Unmesh Desai recently wrote to the London Legacy Development Corporation making a “strong, formal objection” to the Sphere.
Published:
11:01 AM January 22, 2021
The Talent House for Urban Culture would see studios, rehearsal space and offices built at an extended warehouse near the site of the Sugar House Island development in Stratford.
- Credit: High Level Photography
A planned dance and music hub is to receive a £700,000 boost.
The Talent House for Urban Culture would see studios, rehearsal space and offices built at an extended warehouse in Sugar House Lane, Stratford.
The centre would become home to East London Dance and charity Urban Development, which moved out of Sugar House Lane to make way for a housing development. It is currently based in Kings Cross.