Regenerating a brownfield site to create an affordable and student-led community

Located in the London Borough of Southwark, the brownfield urban regeneration will bring a renewed sense of life and high street character back to this stretch of Old Kent Road, replacing a petrol station and derelict industrial warehouses with a mixed-use community of 941 best-in-class student bedrooms and 200 affordable homes across four buildings.

Over 20% of the affordable homes are provided as either three or four bedroom dwellings for families or larger households and equate to over 40% affordable housing by habitable room across the scheme. A total of 75% of the affordable dwellings will also benefit from dual aspect outlook and include balconies that are 33% more generous than the London Plan and Southwark requirements.

JTP’s masterplan-led approach centres on the creation of green corridors between existing and future green spaces to revitalise a once heavily trafficked and industrial area into a pedestrian friendly neighbourhood. The masterplan consists of four tall buildings, ranging between 15 to 33 storeys in height; with an active ground floor featuring a new GP surgery, grocery store, café and community hub. The community hub will be over 1000 sqft and will be made available to residents and the existing local community as a free bookable space for community events and activities.

A high-quality public realm will include a new public space fronting Old Kent Road, two new green public spaces on Sylvan Grove, 69 new trees and a comprehensive landscaping strategy across the site.

In addition to the landscaping and public realm design, the scheme will commit to achieving BREEAM “excellent” targets in all four buildings. Furthermore, the project will be developed in parallel with a whole-life carbon assessment to reduce carbon emissions from the earliest design stages.

The proposals have been informed by continuous and active engagement with stakeholders and the local community from the outset of the design process. This collaborative process included two presentations to the Old Kent Road Community Design Review Panel for their feedback which helped to shape and guide the proposals in a positive forum.