U+I and TfL get green light for Southwark development (GB)

U+I and TfL given green light for Southwark development (GB)

U+I and Transport for London (TfL) have been given the go-ahead by the London Borough of Southwark to deliver a new mixed-use development that will provide new homes, shops, retail and workspace on the empty site on Southwark Street. The decision also secures the future of the historic Crossbones Graveyard and Memorial Garden, one of London’s most unique and extraordinary historic burial grounds. The plans, designed by local architect Allies and Morrison, will transform the site near London Bridge station and Borough Market from an under-utilised space to a local cultural and social hub where people will want to live, work and visit.

 

The development will provide 36 new homes, with 50% affordable, including 12 new homes available at social rent, creating a diverse and economically sustainable community that will allow people and businesses to thrive. Sitting between Southwark Street, Redcross Way and Union Street, the site will create a new commercial centre for Southwark, providing more than 200,000ft² of commercial space for restaurants, cafés, retail opportunities and flexible small business workspace. The site will contribute to the local economy through the new commercial facilities, as well as by creating more than 1,850 jobs once complete, which is especially vital given its location within an opportunity area and Central Activity Zone near London Bridge station.

 

Small and medium businesses will also be encouraged to take advantage of the new hub through the provision of 10% affordable workspace. This builds on U+I and TfL’s reputations for supporting new and developing businesses. As a landlord, more than 85% of TfL’s tenants are small or medium businesses.

 

Richard Upton, Chief Development Officer at U+I, said: “These plans represent the final piece of the puzzle on Southwark Street. This site has been a blot on an otherwise vibrant and successful High Street, but now we can bring forward a development that will stitch the streetscape back together, providing contemporary workspace, homes, shops and restaurants, all set within a carefully considered masterplan that reinstates the medieval lanes and yards of Southwark. From the outset, we were also determined to secure the future of Crossbones, which really is one of London’s extraordinary hidden places. Our plans ensure it will not only be preserved but enhanced so that more Londoners can discover its history and honour its continued purpose as a place to remember and respect those on the margins of society.”

 

Chris Townend, Head of Property Development at TfL, said: “We are excited to have been given the go-ahead to start delivering our plans in Southwark, which will create a vibrant hub for the community, with buzzing market stalls, cafes, restaurants and workspaces. The plans will deliver new much-needed affordable homes while preserving Crossbones Graveyard and Memorial Garden.”

 

Charlotte Gilsenan, CEO of Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST) said: “BOST is pleased to see Crossbones Graveyard protected for the long-term, and we are proud to continue to steward the garden for many years to come. U+I and TfL have worked closely and collaboratively with Friends of Crossbones, Crossbones Forum and BOST to take forward the community-led vision of a peaceful green space in the heart of Borough. We are excited to see the improvements to come and welcome many more visitors to this hidden gem.”

 

Alex Wraight, Partner at Allies and Morrison, said: “Our design work started with a genuine and acute appreciation of the value of the local character. Landmark Court's history is a complex and fascinating tapestry encompassing market gardening, religion, extremes of poverty and wealth,  brewing, manufacturing, coaching inns, merchant trade, markets, fairs, transport infrastructure and artistic creativity. Multi-layered and created through centuries of successive boom and bust, it is a precious resource to be treated with immense care and dignity. Our scheme seeks to build upon these incredible assets with an outward-looking, public realm driven masterplan that knits into the surrounding urban fabric. An apparently informal cluster of buildings is carefully tuned to define a richness of spaces, a fitting contemporary response, in their scale and character, to the beautifully robust mercantile buildings of the area."

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