Tall & Urban News

A master plan by Allies and Morrison for British Land’s GB£4 billion (US$5 billion) regeneration of a 21-hectare chunk of Canada Water, an area of the Docklands in south-east London, has been recommended for approval by planning officers.

A 244-page report by Southwark planning officers argues that plans for building up to 4,000 homes, 40 new buildings and three clusters of high-rise towers should progress.

The scale of the scheme means the application will be spread over two separate planning committees, with the first scheduled for Wednesday, 25 September.

Southwark councilors will vote on the master plan, which has been described by officers as an “ambitious scheme” which delivers a “robust urban framework that would deliver a lasting legacy to the area.”

The master plan covers the former Daily Mail print works, the Surrey Quays Shopping and Leisure Centre, the Dock Offices and the former Rotherhithe Police Station.

The first plot, A1, is designed by Allies and Morrison, and includes a 35-story tower providing 186 homes and 10,700 square meters of office and retail in an adjoining six-story building. Eight of the flats will be discounted rent units and the other 178 would be private homes.

Overall the development will provide 35 percent affordable housing, with 25 percent social rent and 10 percent intermediate. British Land has secured a GB£39.1-million (US$48.8-million) grant from the GLA for the project.

Alongside the outline, detailed proposals have been submitted for three plots with 650 homes, approximately 93,000 square meters of workspace, a leisure center and enhancements to Canada Water dock.

The practice has also designed a second building, A2, overlooking Canada Water with 15,800 square meters of flexible workspace, wide planted balconies and a public leisure center beneath, complete with an eight-lane swimming pool.

Since being submitted, the building’s planned timber panels have been swapped for terracotta to improve fire safety.

The third plot, K1, is a red-brick six-story block of 79 flats, with a courtyard garden located on Roberts Close next to Russia Dock Woodland.

The scheme was first submitted in March 2018, but was scaled back in height after Historic England argued the seven tall buildings would harm views of some of the capital’s most famous landmarks.

The impact on Tower Bridge would be “particularly harmful,” the body argued, as it would block part of its silhouette in views along London Bridge, “visually competing with its monumental character and reducing its landmark status along the Thames.”

According to the council officer’s report, the scheme generated 233 objections and 48 letters of support.

Architects involved on subsequent phases include Hawkins\Brown, which has been appointed to draw up plans for the redevelopment of the Printworks, vacated by the Daily Mail in 2012 and now used as a nightclub and events space.

Maccreanor Lavington has also been appointed to prepare a feasibility study for a building in one of the project’s later phases. The public-realm element of the master plan was designed by Townshend Landscape Architects.

Subject to planning approval, construction of the first buildings will begin in spring 2019, with the entire scheme expected to be completed by 2033.

For more on this story go to Architects’ Journal.