The Royal Docks and Surrounding Area

[Metroguy78]

great place to put them next to City Airport.

[Rational Plan]

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/glenn...033329.article

Planning committee unanimous in agreeing masterplan for east London site

Glenn Howells Architects has won planning for Minoco Wharf, part of the vast Royal Docks redevelopment project in east London.

The 17ha masterplan – which replaces a prevously consented scheme by 3DReid – will create one of the largest mixed-use developments in London, along a 1.5km reach of the Thames.

The practice said it would lead to the creation of a new urban quarter off North Woolwich Road consisting of 26 plots, each with its own landscaped squares.

A spokesman said: “Glenn Howells Architects was inspired by the success of London’s great estates with their uncomplicated typologies of streets and squares that create a rich and subtly diverse tapestry within the urban realm.”

The scheme, for Ballymore, will include shops, a school, a healthcare centre, a community centre, offices, business start-up units and up to 3,385 residential units in typologies ranging from terraced houses to 16-storey towers.

Newham Council and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation approved the masterplan unanimously.

[royaldocksresident]

Looks impressive! Not much left between the Royals and the Thames once this and Silvertown Quays is done.

Second tower of the cable car is up and the station on the Royal Docks side is coming along.

[jack_jones]

Originally Posted by Rational Plan

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/glenn...033329.article

This is great news! When does the construction process begin for this massive project?

[Rational Plan]

Originally Posted by jack_jones

This is great news! When does the construction process begin for this massive project?

With it being Berkeley I'm not sure of how much finance they have spare at the moment. But Woolwich Arsenal is coming into it's final phases, there must be cope to start site clearance fairly soon.

[london lad]

Originally Posted by Rational Plan

With it being Berkeley I'm not sure of how much finance they have spare at the moment. But Woolwich Arsenal is coming into it's final phases, there must be cope to start site clearance fairly soon.

Minoco Wharf is a Ballymore scheme.

[Rational Plan]

Originally Posted by london lad

Minoco Wharf is a Ballymore scheme.

Oh well, what state is Ballymore in? All I know is that they're Irish and obviously that brings in to question their finances at the moment. Have they weathered the storm. Are they going to be building this, or just selling on now they have secured the value of the site.

[jack_jones]

London Mayor Boris Johnson hails £1.2m plan for derelict city area



Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has revealed that property developer Chelsfield has been chosen by the London Development Agency (LDA) as preferred developer of the 50-acre site. It will bring commercial and retail use to the Silvertown Quays scheme within the Royal Docks enterprise zone.

The firm beat a syndicate between the Wellcome Trust and Berkeley Group, as well as a bid from Delancey, in the competition run by the London Development Agency and Mayor Boris Johnson.

“Despite one of the harshest economic climates in decades an urban renaissance is under way in east London and I have no doubt that Silvertown Quays will become a business destination of worldwide appeal,” Mr Johnson said.

The development will include 228,570 square metres of commercial and retail space, and 126,440 square metres of housing. Education, research and innovation centres will also feature. The LDA said a final contract would be concluded within a few months.

Chelsfield, partnered with Imagination Europe and First Base, and originator of the Stratford City scheme also in east London, is hoping to create pavilions where companies will be able to showcase products.

Work on Silvertown Quays is expected to start in two years, with a likely completion date in 2018.

[DarJoLe]

Bit rich of him to big up the area when he was the one who cancelled the Aquarium that would have brought in thousands of tourists.

[Futtock]

Originally Posted by jack_jones

London Mayor Boris Johnson hails £1.2m plan for derelict city area

Hate to be "that guy" but shouldn't it be £1.2 billion rather than million

[ill tonkso]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Bit rich of him to big up the area when he was the one who cancelled the Aquarium that would have brought in thousands of tourists.

You really are becoming a parody of yourself. Every post about Boris seems to be accompanied by a dig from you. You are coming across as immensely childish. Can we have reasoned debate please? Boris isn't perfect (I did not agree with the scrapping of the Parliament Square Pedestrianisation or the cancellation of the Bridge for example) but you make him out to be some sort of incompetent baboon.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by ill tonkso

you make him out to be some sort of incompetent baboon.

Don't think anyone needs to make him out to be that, to be fair.

The Aquarium was to be the diamond in this area, pulling in more tourism than a cable car ever could (all those tourists flocking to view derelict Silvertown and Greenwich Peninsula apartments from above, yes can see that now).

[annamaria4711]

I must agree with ill tonkso, Darjole.
I too was disappointed with the cancelation of the Aquarium, but you've got to think that at that time, when things were (economically ) just as black as they are now (the only difference now we know, to a degree, where the end of the tunnel is whereas then we did not). You cannot blame someone from trying to protect the public purse when that entity/project was perhaps asking for far more public support than the public purse could allow..... I love the East End and I want it to rock as much as anyone else who loves this area.... but really from a business perspective would it really have bought in the amount of people required to make it viable..... I love projects of this innovation and I hate to stamp on them, but if I can see the economic logic surely you can too...I mean look at O2, the public had to sell it at a loss for crying out loud....

Anyway back to the thread.... this looks good. I really think that the Boat show should be held in late Spring or late summer, I know the reasons wha its held in January, but surely if someone is going to purchase a boat they will do so regardless of timing....and if the boat show was in the sunnier days, some of the boats could be out on the docks...that would look FAB....

[pagey17]

Tourism is not an industry it merely expropriates & diverts wealth as appose to creating long term economic benefits. The aquarium was pure fantasy land.

[OptomistOne]

Boris has a few things to say on the area...no doubt part of his election campaign. Nothing new there though that I can see

http://www.wharf.co.uk/2012/03/boris...ands.html#more

[potto]

Originally Posted by pagey17

Tourism is not an industry it merely expropriates & diverts wealth as appose to creating long term economic benefits. The aquarium was pure fantasy land.

I wouldn't dismiss the immense tourist "industry" certainly the huge boom about to hit from China etc. Destination wise, the US, China and France completely annihilate the UK in terms of tourism, we are more on par with Germany.

London needs a large destination Aquarium as part of its leisure and educational offering. It is why it was proposed in the first place.

Many global cities vying to attract investment and tourism use the family orientated and 'magical' aspects of being able to wander underneath the seas of the world and see at first hand the many species of fish and habitats. Unlike zoo's, well run aquariums are not tainted with aspects of the cruelty of captivity.

A destination aquarium, something that is maybe proposed to be the best, would certainly be expensive but like the success of the slightly unsure investment led O2 arena and London Eye it shows that if you don't go for it then you don't reap any benefits.

Something like this just requires some vision and single mindedness.

[ill tonkso]

The problem is, it already has one! The London Aquarium, right in Central.

[potto]

and its not very good

Enough feedback from international visitors to consign it to the embarrassment bin, the typical British habit of offering over-priced third-rate fare. Which basically sums up the rest of conservation constrained County Hall!

Its ok for primary school kids I guess

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by potto

I wouldn't dismiss the immense tourist "industry" certainly the huge boom about to hit from China etc. Destination wise, the US, China and France completely annihilate the UK in terms of tourism, we are more on par with Germany.

In part you can blame our poor tourism performance on us not joining the Schengen agreement. Chinese tourists can visit the whole of mainland Europe on a single visa. Coming here means extra costs and hassle. Why visit one country when for the same price you can visit four or five?

[kerouac1848]

When I worked in the Netherlands in 2010 I knew a large number of Indonesian Au-pairs who travelled around Europe during their time there when not working. Only one ever visited the UK, the rest said the costs and hassle put them off.