Elephant & Castle £1.5bn Regeneration | Southwark | Approved

[Jim856796]

Elephant and Castle is undergoing a major redevelopment budgeted at £1.5 billion.

Some of the developments include:
London Park Hotel Residential Tower
Castle House (a.k.a. Strata)
Oakmayne Plaza
The Vantage (part of Metro Central Heights)
The conversion of the northern roundabout into a public square

Buildings to be demolished:
Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre
Hannibal House
Heygate Estate

Buildings whose fates are unknown:
London College of Communication
Draper House

[GazKinz]

Is the London College of communication the 15 or so storey building on the corner of the north roundabout and St Georges Road?

[El_Greco]

Im glad Heygate is going its such a terrible place...

[wjfox]

Originally Posted by GazKinz

Is the London College of communication the 15 or so storey building on the corner of the north roundabout and St Georges Road?

Yep, that's it. I've been inside the tower - fabulous panoramic views from the top. The building itself is hideous though. Very windswept around the base too.


image hosted on flickr

[Jim856796]

May a new London College of Communication be built?

[GNU]

Surely not.
It has been renovated extensively inside.
It may look rubbish from the outside but inside it looks great/modern.

The redevelopment of elephant&Castle is definitely necessary though.
The shopping centre needs to go.
It has its charme and some people I know actually like it but it doesnt work for me.
They should also get rid of those awfull estates all around elephant& castle.
Its a crime to rent those apartments to people anyways.
Those tunnels under the junction are useless too.
They should also think of measures to thin out the traffic.

[dreadathecontrols]

is this actually hapening or...
Things move so slowly in LDN that these new thread headlines appear every few years & its all some forumers fantasy.

[wjfox]

^ The development partner will be announced on 24th July.

Work has already started on a number of sites. Things are definitely happening.

[potto]

Some info from the latest New London Architecture News Letter

http://www.newlondonarchitecture.org/


With the announcement of Southwark’s commercial development partner for Elephant and Castle due in just under two weeks, the ambitious £1.5 billion regeneration of this perennially tricky area will be under the spotlight at NLA this month.

Currently best known for its high rise estates, labyrinth subways, busy roads and red shopping centre, Southwark Council's 170-acre programme promises a massive new pedestrianised town centre, market square, green spaces and thousands of new homes and jobs.


The area’s redevelopment – set to be one of the largest urban regeneration programmes ever seen – will be the subject of next Tuesday’s PLACE seminar, with an expert panel including Chris Horn, project director for the development team at Southwark Council and John Prevc from Make Architects revealing and debating latest plans. See below for details on how to secure your place.

The area will also be the subject of our new Café Gallery exhibition: Renaissance – the revitalization of Elephant and Castle, opening next Tuesday. And if that’s not enough, the new Elephant and Castle publication – due to be launched at NLA later this month – will be on sale in our new and improved Building Centre Bookshop.

[Octoman]

Thanks for that Potto. Of all the development schemes in London at the moment this is the one that I think could lead to the most fundamental improvement in an area.

If they get this right, E&C has potential to be a real hotspot. Its location is fantastic. I really do hope they pull this off because it has always struck me as quite bizarre that such a well located area of London was in such a shabby state. Particularly given that the surrounding areas had been gentrifying steadily over the past decade (although its fair to say they all have a way to go yet).

Its going to be tough though ensuring that traffic flow is maintained through the area while effectively separating it from the new plaza. Even as things stand now with a giant one way system its continually congested.

[Smoggie_Si]

Originally Posted by potto

The area will also be the subject of our new Café Gallery exhibition: Renaissance – the revitalization of Elephant and Castle, opening next Tuesday. And if that’s not enough, the new Elephant and Castle publication – due to be launched at NLA later this month – will be on sale in our new and improved Building Centre Bookshop.

Ah excellent, cheers Potto!

I'm still unsure about the location of most of the E&C developments so that will be very useful for me. Given that I live so near to the area it's quite embarrassing that I don't know it better but TBH there's currently so little reason to go there. Must have a ride around there this weekend.

[delores]

I agree the area still looks absolutely the same, awful 60's buildings that should be demolished as a PRIORITY, awful and frightning public realm that needs to be seriously worked on, and housing that looks more at home in a poor eastern european country. I still have faith that the masterplan will encompass these issues but at the moment E&C is still a sh*thole and will be for another 5-10 years the rate things are going. Demolition of the college of communication should happen too, anyone who can seriously say this is a good building needs their head testing. Its hardly an inspiring place to learn is it??

[Jim856796]

It has been reported that the London Park Hotel Redevelopment has been cancelled.

[wjfox]

Originally Posted by Jim856796

It has been reported that the London Park Hotel Redevelopment has been cancelled.

Er... no it hasn't.

[GNU]

Hopefully this estate dissapears.
Its the ugliest in the area. I cant believe how people can live there

image hosted on flickr


Does anyone know what will happen to this building?

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr


Someone I know bought himself a flat there.

[Jim856796]

Originally Posted by Checker

Does anyone know what will happen to this building?

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr


Someone I know bought himself a flat there.

This building will be retained. Are you trying to put the Metro Central Heights in danger of demolition?

[GNU]

no
I was just wondering since this fella I know bought himself a flat there.
The building looks ok imo. Atleast far better than the estates around it.

[LDN_EUROPE]

If you think that's ugly - visit China.

The estate doesn't look too bad from those shots. I think usually bad estates in the UK are bad due to some of the people that live in them rather than the quality of the buildings.

The opposite is true in China - you could have the ugliest high rise building you've ever seen but its populated by families just living their lives. It would be totally safe but a similar place int he UK would be crime/anti-social ridden.

I digress...

[LDN_EUROPE]

...thinking about it some of the reason DOES come from the design.

Chinese housing estates:
- gates with a security person (even sh*t hole areas)
- shops/restaurants at street level - creating life and some community
- no pubs

UK housing estates:
none of the above.

...so I believe design does make a difference. I've made another thread to talk about this: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...4#post14326914


So this thread can go back to Elephant & Castle.

[wjfox]

The development partner has been leaked in today's Sunday Times...

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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle2115097.ece





Aussies will do up the pink Elephant
Jenny Davey

AUSTRALIAN property giant Lend Lease is tipped to win the right to carry out a £1.5 billion plan to transform the rundown Elephant & Castle in south London into 170 acres of smart flats and shops.

The company, which was recently selected to build the Olympic village for the 2012 games, is competing against Midlands-based FTSE 250 developer St Modwen.

The winner will be formally announced on Tuesday following a meeting of councillors in Southwark.

St Modwen had been regarded as favourite for the deal because it already owns the ugly pink shopping centre at the heart of the site. But Lend Lease has a bigger balance sheet and has made a commitment to the area with a number of schemes in partnership with Oakmayne, another developer.

The regeneration team at Southwark has made its view known to councillors and a final decision will be taken on Tuesday. The recommendation has been kept under wraps.

Southwark council refused to comment and sources cautioned it was impossible to guarantee which party would win until this week.

The council was meant to choose its preferred developer in February. Concerns over the handling of the process forced previous contenders; among them a consortium that included New York real-estate billionaire Richard Lefrak; to drop out, leaving only St Modwen and Lend Lease in the fray.

If Lend Lease does win the bid battle, St Modwen is expected to be furious. The council would be likely to buy out its land using compulsory purchase powers.