Plans for the £2 billion Vauxhall Square regeneration have secured approval, paving the way for one of London’s most ambitious new mixed-use developments and a substantial new pipeline of Build to Rent (BTR), co-living, student and conventional housing. The major scheme will transform a long-stalled 1.49-hectare site between Vauxhall and Nine Elms with a cluster of seven buildings, including a landmark 69-storey residential tower that will become a significant addition to the south London skyline. At the heart of the proposals is a diverse residential offer. Vauxhall Square is expected to provide approximately 1,097 new homes, including properties for sale and rent, alongside 1,164 co-living studios and accommodation for 699 students. The housing mix will also include affordable provision and homes for social rent. The scale of the project makes it particularly significant for London’s evolving BTR and wider living sectors. Rather than concentrating on a single residential tenure, the development brings conventional housing, professionally managed rental accommodation, co-living and purpose-built student accommodation together within one major regeneration project. Vauxhall Square is being brought forward by Cedarstone Capital Partners and Cheyne Capital alongside GFH Financial Group, with Bmor and Trigon acting as development managers. Pilbrow & Partners is leading the architectural design of the new masterplan, replacing the earlier Allies and Morrison proposals for the site. The wider professional team includes Gardiner & Theobald on costs, AKT II as structural engineer, Hoare Lea on building services and Exterior Architecture as landscape architect. DP9 is planning consultant, Velocity is advising on transport, while Publica and Space Syntax are involved in the public realm strategy. Beyond housing, Vauxhall Square is designed as a genuinely mixed-use neighbourhood. Plans incorporate a hotel, offices, retail and leisure space, a cinema and community facilities, with a new central garden forming an important focal point for the development. Ground-floor uses and new pedestrian connections are intended to create a more active public realm and improve links towards Vauxhall Station and neighbouring developments. The project is also significant because it unlocks a major site that has remained largely undeveloped despite previous planning permissions. The latest proposals respond to changing housing and investment conditions by increasing density while introducing a much broader range of residential tenures. For the construction sector, a £2 billion development of this scale represents a substantial future pipeline spanning high-rise construction, façades, structural engineering, M&E, residential fit-out, landscaping and public realm. Vauxhall Square could now become a defining part of the wider Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea regeneration story, while demonstrating how BTR, co-living, student housing and affordable homes can form part of a single large-scale urban neighbourhood. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

One of east London’s largest regeneration projects has taken a major step forward after City Hall approved plans for nearly 3,000 homes on the former Beckton Gasworks site in Newham. The Beckton Riverside development is being brought forward by St William, part of Berkeley Group, and will transform around 30 acres of derelict former industrial land on the north bank of the River Thames. The gasworks closed in the 1960s and the complexity of the contaminated site means substantial remediation and infrastructure investment will be required before large-scale housebuilding can begin. Newham Council had previously resolved to approve the proposals, but the applications were called in by the Mayor of London in April. Following a public hearing, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills Jules Pipe has now approved the scheme. At the heart of the masterplan are around 2,900 new homes, together with approximately 5,000 sq m of mixed-use floorspace and a five-acre riverside park. The first phase will include buildings rising to 15 storeys. Berkeley is expected to invest around £250 million in remediation, enabling works and infrastructure to prepare the former gasworks for redevelopment. The initial programme will involve a major clean-up of the heavily contaminated site alongside work to strengthen flood defences and upgrade local infrastructure. Architecture and masterplanning is being led by JTP, with HTA involved as landscape architect. The professional team also includes Quod as planning consultant, Vectos on transport and GIA as daylight consultant. A major component of the wider vision is improved connectivity. The masterplan has been developed around proposals for a new Beckton Riverside DLR station, forming part of Transport for London’s planned extension from Gallions Reach through Beckton Riverside and beneath the Thames to Thamesmead. The transport project remains subject to funding and further approvals. The regeneration will also open up a substantial stretch of the Thames waterfront, with JTP’s plans incorporating new streets, walking and cycling connections and extensive green infrastructure alongside the new riverside park. Affordable housing has been one of the more closely scrutinised elements of the project. City Hall documents put the initial provision at 8.1% by habitable room, with the potential to rise to as much as 20% if housing grant funding is secured. Dean Summers, managing director of St James & St William, described the approval as a significant step forward for the complex, long-term regeneration site. Construction could begin in 2028, with the first homes expected to complete from 2030. Before then, the scale of the £250 million enabling programme underlines the engineering challenge involved in transforming decades-old contaminated industrial land into an entirely new residential neighbourhood. For Berkeley and St William, Beckton Riverside represents a major long-term development opportunity. For east London, it could unlock a previously inaccessible section of the Thames and create a new mixed-use community at the heart of the wider Royal Docks and Beckton Riverside regeneration area. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals