LONDON'S BIG PLANS

Image from ECD Architects

Coopers Road Regeneration by ECD Architects is a 154 unit development for the Peabody Trust. It sits on the former site of a 1960’s era development in the dense neighborhood of Southwark London. The successful development achieved Ecohomes “very good” status and has garnered recognition for its design and sustainability credentials.

The 178 unit mixed-use development on the former Bell Green Gasworks site in the southeast London borough of Lewisham has all the hallmarks of positive urban regeneration; a brownfield site, access to public transportation and a new large grocery store within walking distance. The development has undergone an over £10 million cleanup process and has been in planning in one form or another for over 10 years. The project design includes a combined heating and power (CHP) plant for the residential areas to reduce carbon emissions.  

Projects like these throughout London are building density and providing housing capacity with reduced demand on the energy infrastructure and a reduced carbon footprint. The scale of these development is in a completely different realm than what is now being considered for the Royal Docks.

Image from the Royal Docks Management Authority

The shape of what is to come was released in a report by the Mayor of London and the Mayor of Newham in March, 2011. In the words of the Mayor of London “Royal Docks will be the second largest Olympic venue and there is a real impetus to use the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a catalyst for long-term regeneration.” The infrastructure upgrades in and around the Olympics improve connections with London city center and build in capacity for expansion. The venues and residences on the Olympics site provide benefits to neighboring communities. There is potential for as much as £22 billion in new development in this area. London and Newham are anxious to get it done and have planned to build out phase 1 projects by 2015. In keeping with this timeline the city web site is collecting qualifications from interested contractors for the Silvertown Quays and Royal Albert Dock - some 85 acres of development area in East London.

Image from Mayor of London

A southern route extension of the DLR light rail line opened in 2009 connecting a thriving financial center at Canary Warf, and a growing East London University in Newham to the London City Airport. The success of the O2 arena (former Millenium Dome) as a music venue and of the Convention Center has spurred some new development in the area. 

Image from Architects Journal

Siemens plans to build a new £30 million Pavillion Centre designed by Pringle Brandon and Wilkinson Eyre Architects as the flagship building for the Mayor's Enterprise Zone, which means that business locating in the area will receive significant tax benefits, simplified planning review in the zone and super fast internet. The city is working hard to sell this area to developers as ripe for commercial success. And there is some basis behind the claim. The infrastructure built for the Olympics will further weave together the components necessary for successful residential and commercial development in the area. Both sustainability and community connections area at the forefront of the Mayors’ ten point vision for the Royal Docks, which casts the net of a “One Planet Olympics” vision over a much broader field. 

Image courtesy of Bioregional/Quintain

 Planning schemes in this region may breathe new life into the One Gallions project near the East London University. A reunion of the One Brighton team, Crest Nicholson, BioRegional-Quintain and FCBstudios, One Gallions has an experienced dream team, sustainability street cred and immediate adjacency to the Gallions Reach DLR station. Timelines as indicated on the project web site are long since past, but watch the site for a design refined by the updated parameters of the Mayors vision statements.