Service: Planning & Development | Sector: Student Accommodation
The Challenge
Bringing forward a viable development on this site which has lain vacant for many years following a previous permission in 2009 for a PRS-led scheme which was never built out. Issues include re-providing the drive-thru McDonalds which previously occupied the site and is a legal requirement of any future development. Also finding a solution to pedestrian permeability issues given this is an island site bound by busy roads on all sides. Situated in a gateway location to the north of Canary Wharf, landmark architecture was required to justify the proposal for very tall buildings.
The Solution
Working with Apt Architects, we have been leading consultation with Tower Hamlets officers and the GLA lopment on this site. The scheme, comprising distinctive towers, acts as a mediator between the clusters of Canary Wharf and Blackwall / New Providence Wharf. In partnership with UCL, 35% of the student rooms will meet the London Plan policies in relation to provision of affordable student accommodation. The development includes new office space and incubator space, as well as ground floor retail units (including the reprovided McDonalds drive-thru) to activate the newly created public realm. The cycling agenda is integrated into the scheme design and major upgrades to the pedestrian permeability across Trafalgar Way are proposed with ‘table-topping’ and two pedestrian crossings. With the ambition to deliver the most sustainable large-scale student housing scheme in the world with ultra-low carbon operational performance, Urbanest has adopted the Passivhaus approach to building design.
The Results
The scheme will bring forward a world class, highly sustainable development within three landmark buildings of 46, 36 and 28 storeys providing almost 1,700 student bedrooms, 68 residential units proposed for university staff and their families, workspace, retail and significant public realm improvements.
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