River of dreams

The River Thames waterfront has been neglected for too long, but with the developmental thrusts of the past decade, a sea change is imminent. By Alasdair Nicholls

VIPs and professional party-goers based in London have had it fairly easy this year, with most of the capital’s major launches being held along the banks of the Thames.

In the past few weeks, the Queen has opened the Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge, and anybody who was anybody turned up for the evening bash. DETR secretary John Prescott launched Greenwich Millennium Village and last month the latest plans for Battersea Power Station were unveiled.

At the same time, millennium projects have drawn attention to London, and the “river that runs through it”, with Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge, the London Eye and the Dome bringing in large numbers of visitors.

The Thames runs through a city which until the end of the nineteenth century controlled a huge empire and dominated global trade. But all that has changed in the past 100 years, culminating in the closure of what was once the greatest port in the world.

It is 30 years since London’s docks closed, yet it is only in the past few years that the government and the London boroughs that lie adjacent to the Thames have begun to exploit its value as an amenity for living, working and playing.

After its launch in 1979, the London Docklands Development Corporation set about a massive redevelopment programme with Canary Wharf as its centrepiece.

Those early years of the Docklands regeneration attracted a good deal of criticism for alienating the indigenous communities, and allowing unplanned development leading to ghettos of upmarket but poorly designed housing. Canary Wharf also had few amenities and the Docklands Light Railway was wholly inadequate.

During the 1990s there has been a gradual change in attitude towards development along the river in line with the recommendations of the Urban Task Force. Certainly there are still examples of poorly designed, big and brash monolithic single-use schemes but, little by little, the desire for masterplanning, good-quality architecture and schemes that draw in their surrounding areas have begun to emerge.

The Greenwich Peninsula, that symbol of Thames-side dereliction, has at last got its Underground link with central London, and the South Bank, which it has opened up, boasts some of the best Tube station architecture on the system, from the likes of Foster & Partners, Micahel Hopkins &Partners and Nicholas Grimshaw &Partners.

Anchored, for the time being, by the Dome, the peninsula will become a model for mixed-use regeneration over the next 15 years. Its residential quarter, Greenwich Millennium Village, under development by Taylor Woodrow and Countryside Properties, is the vision of one man, Ralph Erskine, an architect and masterplanner with an international reputation.

Revival of the London square

In urban design terms, the village reintroduces the London square to create streets and public spaces that are human, lively, intimate and secure. It uses the buildings to create a well-tempered environment and gives the pedestrian priority over the car.

Katie Kopec, director of global consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle, says: “The political will is there to divert housing development away from the green belt and onto previously developed land. But just as important is the need to ensure that development is sustainable and well served by public transport.

“In this respect, the Thames’ banks offer all the right ingredients, providing sites that have previously been developed,” she adds.

The driving force for urban regeneration is now an integral part of government policy. It wants to see 60% of the 4.4m new houses planned between now and 2015 to be on brownfield sites; it wants to see a greater emphasis on the use of public transport to move people around, and it set up the Urban Task Force under the leadership of Lord Rogers to explore ways in which one could redress the drift towards suburban living.

Certainly, the idea of mixed-use developments to create an integration between living, working and leisure is beginning to take a hold. One of the earliest regeneration schemes from the 1970s is at St Katharine Docks next to the Tower of London. It includes housing, retail, offices and leisure. The evolution is continuing and Taylor Woodrow is shortly to unveil plans for a 17,100m² (1,589 sq ft) office scheme by the Richard Rogers Partnership.

Kopec argues that there are sound commercial reasons for building schemes with more than one use. “Developers have the ability to hedge their risks if there is more than one land use, because market cycles for residential and commercial never work in tandem. In addition, because cash can be drawn down from the sale of residential property at an early stage, it allows the developer to use housing to pump prime commercial uses on site.”

Developer St George has several substantial projects under way including Imperial Wharf in Townmead Road, Fulham, where it is shortly to start work. The scheme will include 850 private apartments, 815 affordable dwellings, a 4.5ha (10 acre) park, offices, shops, a health and fitness club and hotels.

Taylor Woodrow and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong have announced plans for a scheme at the Lots Road Power Station in Chelsea. Architect Terry Farrell is developing proposals for a 93,000m² (1m sq ft) conversion of the power station to include residential, retail and offices.

Top-quality design pays off

There is evidence to suggest that top-quality design increases values around developments. Land Securities is looking at redeveloping its 60,385m² (650,000 sq ft) St Christopher House office building behind Tate Modern, and Jones Lang LaSalle and Drivers Jonas are looking at the development potential in the immediate vicinity.

There is no shortage of great architects who have put forward plans for schemes along the Thames. Lord Foster is working on a mixed-use scheme with Hutchison Whampoa at Albion Wharf, Battersea and he has designed the new Greater London Authority building at More London Bridge, as well as the Millennium Bridge.

The leisure/cultural projects along the Thames have also drawn in the very best in architecture including Richard Rogers’ Dome; Herzog & De Meuron’s Tate Modern; David Marks and Julia Barfield, designers of the London Eye; and Rick Mather who is working on a massive project to upgrade the South Bank Centre.

It would be a resounding vote for London if the latest proposals for Battersea Power Station work. They were unveiled a fortnight ago and include 135,780m² (1.46m sq ft) of entertainment and leisure, 42,200m² (454,252 sq ft) of offices, 79,000m² (850,377 sq ft) of residential, two hotels, a railway station and theatre.

There are many more opportunities for developers and their design teams to once again create a great Thames frontage, but there is a desperate need for high-calibre urban regeneration expertise and an appreciation from planning authorities of the benefits this can bring.

Joined-up thinking and a positive attitude by the public and private sector towards working together will facilitate this process.

Alasdair Nicholls is managing director of Taylor Woodrow Capital Developments

River Thames map
High-profile launches of several schemes have put the River Thames in the spotlight
Ref	Scheme	Developer	Comments
1	Greenwich Millennium shops, Village, SE10	Taylor Woodrow/ Countryside Properties	Mixed-use, 1,400 homes, restaurants, workspace, new school
2	The Dome, SE10	n/a	Cultural
3	Canary Wharf, E14	Canary Wharf Group	836,120m² of retail and offices already built or under construction. Developments, completed in 5-7 years, will total 1.25m²
4	Canada Water	Southwark borough council	Proposals for 525,000m² mixed-use scheme
5	More London Bridge, SE1	Capital & Income Trust Group	198,810m² of offices including new GLA building, 11,148m² of shops and hotel
6	Europe House, E1	Taylor Woodrow	17,650m² of offices and shops
7	London Bridge Station, SE1	Sellar Property Group	97,547m² retail and offices
8	3 Quays House, EC3	n/a	n/a
9	Tate Modern, SE1	n/a	Cultural
10	The Millennium Bridge, SE1	n/a	Cultural
11	South Bank Centre, SE1/ London Eye, SE1	n/a	Cultural, subject to regeneration
12	Parliament View, SE1	Ho Bee Ssang Yong Cement	180 units, October 2000
13	St George Wharf,	SE1 St George	Mixed-use includes 750 flats, hotel, offices, retail and leisure
14	The Panoramic, SE1	Benchmark	89 flats on 20 floors
15	Battersea Power Station, SW8	Parkview International London	Mixed-use including 135,780m² of leisure, plus residential, hotels and a railway station
16	Albion Wharf, SW11	Hutchison Whampoa	Mixed-use to include 190 flats, shops, offices
17	Montevetro, SW11	Taylor Woodrow/ Hutchison Whampoa	103 apartments
18	Lots Road, SW10	Taylor Woodrow/ Hutchison Whampoa	Mixed-use 93,000m² scheme, residential, retail and offices
19	Chelsea Harbour, SW10	n/a	n/a
20	Imperial Wharf, SW6	St George	Mixed-use to include 850 flats, 815 affordable dwellings, offices, shops, park, health and fitness club
21	Riverside West, SW18	St George	Mixed-use scheme under construction of 434 flats, hotel, health club and offices
Source: Taylor Woodrow

Southwark Mixed-use scheme provides blueprint

With no fewer than eight of the regeneration schemes on the map on the previous page having the postmark SE1, it is apparent that Southwark leads the way in Thames-side regeneration. Its latest proposals for a 525,000m² (5.7m sq ft) redevelopment on the Canada Water peninsula (see EG, 27 May, p39) appear to provide a blueprint for the government’s proposals for mixed-use urban regeneration schemes.

Phase one of the proposals would see high-density residential development around Canada Water Tube station. Phase two sets out to provide a traditional high street with around 100,000m² (1.07m sq ft) of retail and leisure with residential above these core uses. The plans include 280,000m² (3m sq ft) of commercial space, which could feed off the adjacent Canary Wharf if it is built out.

The aim is to revitalise the area and create a city-centre living ethos. The area was developed as an out-of-town retail location 10 years ago, but since the arrival of the new Jubilee Line, much of its affluent population in the waterside apartments jump on the Tube and shop in the West End.

Kelvin Campbell of Urban Initiatives, consultant on the scheme to Southwark with GVA Grimley, highlights the need for a strong evening economy as well as daytime spending. There will be strong pedestrian links within the site and to the river.

Fears have been expressed that the borough is overstretching itself by being involved in so many high-profile and expansive development schemes. Southwark’s regeneration and development manager Stephen Platts points out that the market will dictate development and that a white elephant is not on the cards. Richard Aspland-Robinson of Prestbury, owner of four retail sheds currently on the market within the proposed development area, says: “If you had this conversation 15 years ago about Canary Wharf, over the water people would have scoffed about suggestions that it would all let and be so successful. This is a good area and this scheme can do well.”

Platts states: “The LDDC did a good job attracting initial investment – but things have changed now with the Jubilee Line and, with the improved infrastructure and all the developments along the river, this is now the focus.”

The council is looking to draw up supplementary planning guidance over the next three to six months.

Judith Mayhew, business and city adviser to the GLA, and head of the cross-river partnership, says: “It is interesting to see so much development along the riverside – and it is sustainable. The houses, offices and restaurants all need infrastructure and now they have it – schemes such as Canada Water must be the way the Thames Gateway develops.” And she adds: “There are more interesting opportunities right along the river which are underpinned by new infrastructure.”