Leven Road Gasworks, Poplar

Project type:	New Urban Quarter
Client:	St William (part of the Berkeley Group)
Stage:	Hybrid Planning Application
Programme:	2017-ongoing

Bringing a brownfield site back to life on the River Lea.

The 8.3 ha Leven Road Gasworks site is located on the River Lea, in the Aberfeldy Estate area of Poplar. Set within the Lower Lea Valley Opportunity Area and the Poplar Riverside Housing Zone, the new quarter will transform a derelict brownfield site into a thriving destination – connecting Poplar to the River Lea.

“

The proposal is well-designed, and would deliver a high-quality, well-integrated, inclusive, sustainable place.

Ann Sutcliffe, Director of Place at Tower Hamlets

The proposals were formed following extensive collaboration with the local community and stakeholders, including the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, TfL and the GLA. The new urban quarter is centred around a 1 ha riverside park and a new continuous 500m riverside walk along the River Lea.

Project Delivery

– Creating a 1 ha riverside park and continuous riverside walk.
– 2,800 new homes in a range of sizes and tenures, and approximately 10,000 sq m of mixed-uses.
– A new secondary school and sixth form centre on the Leven Road frontage, which engages positively with existing residents, supporting the staged placemaking approach.
– Leven Yards, the first phase which has been approved in detail, is planned around a sequence of makerspaces, workshops and affordable workspace, and will connect Leven Road to the riverside park. It will deliver 577 homes, 35% of which will be affordable, and will include a food store, café, gym and a pub.
– Two distinct character areas of formal gridded streets and informal organic riverside sections are derived from the site’s natural and industrial history.
– A large network of generous, multi-functional green spaces, in which areas of parkland, amenity, play, civic space and biodiverse habitats will deliver a range of environmental and social benefits.