Plans submitted for Woking skyscraper of up to 25-storeys near train station

Plans have been submitted for Woking's newest 'skyscraper' which is set to be constructed in the town's heart, with nearly 600 apartments across up to 25-storeys five minute walk from Woking's train station. Should the proposal be approved, the project would begin with the demolition of two 'historic' buildings in Woking's town centre. At the end of March, Woking Poole Limited submitted their plans to Woking Borough Council for a 580 apartment shared living building of up to 25 storeys which would include also ground floor commercial units and public realm working spaces and facilities.

This proposal would also involve the demolition two office buildings to prepare the site; the Technology House in Goldsworth Road and Poole House on Poole Road. Woking Borough Council's planning committee is set to have their consultation to ascertain whether this proposal should be approved for construction on Monday, April 28. Designed by Axiom Architects, the development is planned to comprise approximately 580 co-living units, of which it is expected that 350 will be allocated to students at Woking's Italia Conti Performing Arts Academy, which is just a few minute walk from the proposed site.



The remaining 230 apartments are expected to be operated by Node Living as residential apartments. Previously, this site has seen planning submitted for similar developments. In February 2023, housing association Abri Group had their plans for an 'all affordable', 224-home, 25-storey tower block on the same site rejected by Woking council's planning committee.

Abri Group appealed this decision just a month later in March, an appeal which was won. The decisions surrounding this planning proposal seemingly caused a lot of controversy during the time among those with roles in Woking Borough Council. When this submission was first rejected in February 2023, Planning committee vice chairperson Cllr Tahir Aziz said: "We need better quality of the housing.

We don't want to create just ghettos and putting people on lower income in separate segregating them and in blocks." "I hope they come back with something more acceptable, more reduction in volume and bulk and mass, better designed." He added.

Something 'more acceptable' must have been provided, as the appeal was won a year later. When the appeal was won in March 2024, the leader of Woking Borough Council, Cllr Ann-Marie Barker clearly disagreed with such decision, saying: "It is disappointing that the planning inspectorate has again allowed a private developer to erect a high rise building in our town centre." "A four to six storey development would have been preferable for this location.

However, I do welcome the new homes that the development will provide, particularly as there will be a high proportion of affordable homes." Updates on the future of the Abri Group's planning submission for 224 apartments on the site have slowed since the appeal was won. In April 2024, an Abri spokesperson told the BBC there was "still work to be done" on the plans for the site.

Adding: "We must make sure it's still financially viable to deliver the homes and meet the needs of the local community." It is important to mention that Woking Poole Ltd's planning submission is a separate development to the Abri Group proposal, meaning these two planning submissions are not related. Therefore, the aforementioned criticism the Abri Group submission received should not be applied to the Woking Poole proposed development.

Outwardly, Axiom architect's designs for the 25-storey building differ from previous submissions, however according to the architecture company's planning documents, their plans have the "same building footprint, height and mass to the already consented scheme of the site", plans have mainly been adjusted to fit over double the units. The team on the 580-apartment project includes Turley as planning consultants, Axiom behind architectural design of the high-rise and Ivory Group as the development managers. It is likely to become more clear by Monday, April 28 whether Woking is set to have another high-rise added to it's town centre, and whether the buildings currently based on the site of proposals, are to be demolished.

As part of the planning submission for the near 600-unit building, the buildings currently on the site would need to be demolished. These being the Technology House, of 48 - 54 Goldsworth Road and the Poole House of 1-3 Poole Road. According to Axiom architect's planning documents, these two buildings are "outdated" and are "considered low quality, with unattractive façades that do not enhance the area".

Built in 1982, the Technology House is a four-story brick building with retail units such as a Papa John's restaurant and a funeral directors on the ground floor and commercial offices above. Poole house is a two-story office building, is located at the corner of Poole Road which formerly housed a land consulting company. It is crucial to mention once again that the planning application for this 25-storey high-rise in Woking's town centre has not yet been accepted by Woking Borough Council's planning committee.

And the first consultations for this development are set to begin later in the month on April 28..