Job also includes building new community kitchenThe block will be turned into new student homesA scheme by Howells to turn a 1980s office building in south London into student accommodation has been given the green light by Southwark planners.The block at 182-202 Walworth Road will be overhauled into nearly 300 student bedrooms as well as new retail and a publicly accessible courtyard garden.The job, which is being developed by Fabrix, will also 23 homes for social rent at the site.It will also include a 2,626 sq ft community kitchen, which will open up into the courtyard garden.Others working on the deal include QS Turner & Townsend Alinea, project manager Gardiner & Theobald, M&E consultant Arup and structural engineer Elliott Wood.Fabrix is also behind a 180m scheme in London that would have seen a mini forest built on top of the former Blackfriars Crown Court in Southwark.But this has been stalled because of affordability issues. The seven-storey building on Pocock Street had been due to be carried out by Mace, with 385,000 sq ft of office and community space to be built alongside the rooftop forest.