A distinctive urban quarter shaped around the revival of two listed buildings

Located within Kingston’s historic Eden Quarter, much of The Royal Exchange site has lain derelict since the 1980s, when a new relief road severed the historic urban fabric of the site, and the existing Telephone Exchange became obsolete as a result of technological advances.

As a result, the Old Post Office site offered a unique opportunity to kickstart the renaissance of Kingston’s Eden Quarter, further enhancing Kingston as a successful town centre.

The comprehensive regeneration of the under-used brownfield site creates a mixed-use urban quarter, delivering new homes, shops, restaurants, offices and community space, with over half an acre of landscaped public realm and the restoration of the Grade II-listed buildings.

In total 322 new homes will be delivered, of which 17% will be affordable, in a range of sizes to support a mixed community. The mixed uses will complement the established local facilities and be set within high-quality public realm with strong pedestrian connections to the town centre, and twin landscaped courtyards for residents.

The Old Post Office will be brought back to life and placed at the centre of a new mixed-use piazza, and the Telephone Exchange will be integrated within the quarter as a sensitively converted office space.

The neighbourhood is designed with a locally distinctive architectural character, reflecting the site’s unique historic and physical context, to provide a strong sense of place. A key focus in the designs was on protecting and enhancing the two Grade II listed buildings to ensure their appropriate reuse and long-term survival moving forward.

St George, with JTP, has undertaken an extensive engagement process with the local community, stakeholders and statutory consultees, with over 1,000 local people in attendance at the exhibitions to help shape the proposals.