Tower Hamlets Borough Council approves Blackwall Yard as new piece of city

CGI from Hadley Property Group of Blackwall Yard - riverside

It is one of the last brownfield sites on the Thames and now Tower Hamlets Borough Council has unanimously approved Blackwall Yard in east London as a new piece of city.

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Paul Buckenham, Development Manager, at the council along with Benjamin Walker at LDA-Design are taking part in our 'City Developments - new districts' forum this month. LDA Design is part of a competition-winning team behind a masterplan that puts quality public space at the heart of new Thames-side living.

The scheme proposed by Hadley Property Group will open up a stretch of the Thames Path to Londoners for the first time in decades. Tower Hamlets said the new plans are of benefit to the public. Consultation had discovered that more than 90% of people surveyed thought that the area lacked amenities they were looking for such as good food and places to shop. The development includes just under 900 tenure-blind homes, including affordable, a new primary school, a pub, cafe and retail.

The site, much of which was being used as a car park, sits between Canary Wharf and the Royal Docks and is a short walk from the East India DLR station. Transformed it will form a new link between Tower Hamlets and the Greenwich Penninsula.

Benjamin Walker, LDA Design's lead for the project said:

'Our design includes a permanent area of water for wild swimming, water capture and cleaning as well as floating exhibition and performance space plus an area for the new school to use for outside learning. The cap of the dock has been transformed into a series of inviting terraces which make the most of the view across the Thames to the O2.'

The site was of low ecological value, so LDA Design saw this is an opportunity to increase biodiversity across the site. A gravel garden will feature attractive drifts of inter-tidal planting. There will also be rain gardens and allotments.