Regeneration of a former gas works overlooking the River Lea

Located within the Lower Lea Valley Opportunity Area, the new quarter will transform a derelict brownfield site into a new quarter. The 8.3-hectare site will provide 2,800 new private and affordable homes, along with a new secondary school and flexible space for employment, enterprise and leisure.

The residential-led, mixed-use neighbourhood will focus around a new one-hectare park and natural open spaces providing significant biodiversity net gain. Environmental sustainability has been a focus with ecological enhancements and riverside walkway. A large network of generous, multi-functional green spaces of parkland, amenity, play and biodiverse habitats will deliver a range of environmental and social benefits. A new public square in Leven Yards will unite the development and act as the central heart for the community.

The new secondary school sensitively integrates with the existing streets and will support the project’s staged placemaking approach which spans across four construction phases, delivering a sense of place from the outset and across the project’s evolution.

Responding to the site’s rich heritage, Phase 1 Leven Yards will embody distinct traits of east London’s industrial history through brick warehouse building forms, roof profiles and detailed balcony design. The surrounding buildings complement the preserved sections of the existing gasholder incorporated in the public realm which reinforce the area’s industrial past.

Working collaboratively with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Leven Yards, the first phase of which is currently being constructed, 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.