Mayor clears Wood Wharf development

Canary Wharf Group plans to build up to 3,610 apartments in 30 high rise blocks on the eastern edge of the London Docklands business district.

The new development, on land formerly known as Wood Wharf, will transform a 13.6 hectare site that has been semi-derelict and underused for decades.

The new residential district will also include net 177,000m² of office space, targeting the media, technology and telecoms sectors.

The masterplan by Allies & Morrison also includes a primary school, an NHS medical centre, a community centre, a hotel and more than 100 high street shops, restaurants and cafes.

The application was approved by Tower Hamlets Council in July 2014. (See our previous report here.)

Centrepiece of the scheme will be a 57-storey cylindrical residential skyscraper (below) facing the waters of South Dock, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architects behind the Tate Modern and the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing.

The first phase will see construction of approximately 900 apartments and up to 18,000m² of office space.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This vast development will transform a currently derelict brownfield site beyond all comprehension into a thriving new community with thousands of new homes and jobs. This is exactly the kind of scheme that we need to accommodate London’s booming population that is set to break through the nine million mark within the next decade.”

Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk