Bold plans submitted to reawaken Silvertown site

With a bold character founded in the industrial heritage of this historic part of London, this diverse neighbourhood will feature around 6,500 new homes with 50% affordable housing, alongside a vibrant new centre for the Royal Docks.

Submitted by The Silvertown Partnership, striking designs for the 50-acre site show how the iconic Millennium Mills building, left derelict and largely disused for around 40 years, will be fully restored and form the centrepiece of the new community.

The £3.5bn development will embrace its dockside location and over 5 acres of water will be central to the new neighbourhood, with canal walkways, a paddle board club and new bridges providing far greater access to the water and a closer connection with nature. 

Situated within London’s only Enterprise Zone, the London Plan identifies the site as one of the largest regeneration opportunities in the capital and the development is predicted to contribute between £76m-£90m per year to London’s economy, with the vast majority of this expected to be in the Newham area.

The plans reveal ambitions to make Silvertown a hub of new industry, featuring over 780,000 square feet of next generation work and creative spaces in the refurbished Millennium Mills buildings and surrounding employment quarter, equivalent to 13 times the size of St. Paul’s Cathedral, alongside provision for additional future flexible workspace and makerspace.

Silvertown is expected to become a new cultural hub for the Royal Docks, with brand-new arts and leisure facilities, cafés, restaurants and bars providing residents and visitors a place to unwind and be entertained. New public squares will play host to cultural events while green spaces will provide access to nature and encourage walking, running and cycling across the site. The newly opened Custom House Elizabeth Line Station will also provide a convenient transport link for residents, workers and visitors just 15 minutes from central London.

Silvertown will deliver significant opportunities for local people and create more than 10,000 jobs, making the site somewhere to celebrate East London’s pioneering past and brighter-than-ever future. It’s estimated that more than 1,300 people per year will be involved in construction of the site, with a target of 25 per cent of those to come directly from the London Borough of Newham. In addition there will be a mix of apprenticeships and paid work experience opportunities available.

Extensive new community facilities are also proposed that will include healthcare, nursery and community spaces, as well as a brand-new primary school. The new neighbourhood will also be one of London’s greenest, with all homes and commercial spaces supplied with hot water and heating powered through a zero-carbon district heating system.

The Silvertown Partnership is seeking full planning permission for phase one of the Proposed Development, which will include 1,248 new homes, including 610 affordable homes, and 82,328 sqm new commercial space. Outline permission is sought for the remainder of the site.

The Silvertown Partnership, which includes Lendlease, an international real estate and investment group, is working in conjunction with the Greater London Authority (GLA), Homes England and The Guinness Partnership (TGP).

Prior + Partners are the lead consultant for the hybrid planning application and masterplanners for the whole Silvertown site. Architects working on various plots within the site include AHMM, dRMM, Pollard Thomas Edwards, Maccreanor Lavington, and Gort Scott with OMMX, with Arup on transport, AECOM on infrastructure and EIA and Energy Strategy, and SLA and Churchman Thornhill Finch on landscape. DP9 are the planning consultant.

Quote attributable to Ed Mayes, Project director for Silvertown, Lendlease:

“After months of working together with local residents and our public sector partners GLA, Homes England and the London Borough of Newham, I’m proud to present our vision for this iconic new neighbourhood. Silvertown is finally being reimagined as a vibrant new centre for the Royal Docks – a place where people can live and work well, better connected to the water and each other. 

“This is a pivotal moment for the Silvertown development, as we reveal plans for a neighbourhood that will create thousands of much-needed new affordable homes and jobs for Newham. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the local community and our stakeholders to make this shared vision a reality.”

Quote attributable to Catriona Simons, CEO at The Guinness Partnership:

“This planning application is a big milestone in creating a new future for the Silvertown site. As affordable housing provider for the first phase affordable homes, Guinness is proud to be part of this ambitious and exciting vision for the Silvertown neighbourhood.” 

ENDS