Plans have been submitted to convert the world’s largest surviving collection of Victorian gasholders into a 2,100-home development.
A proposal by developer St William – a member of the Berkeley Group – would see the Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks in east London transformed into a new mixed-use neighbourhood with a riverside park.
The 9.3-hectare site in the borough of Newham contains seven disused Grade II listed gasholders, representing the largest surviving group of Victorian gasholders in the world, and almost half of the 19 listed gasholders remaining in the UK.
Although the gasworks were closed in 1976, the holders continued to be used for gas storage before eventually being decommissioned in 2010.
Under plans drawn up by architects RSHP, the gasholders would be temporarily taken down and then restored to provide seven residential towers of up to 10 storeys.
The remaining homes would be contained in six new “pencil” buildings designed to reflect the design of the original gasholders, which would be arranged around a central core.
Commercial, retail and entertainment space is also planned for the site, along with public open space.
St William described the scheme as a “one-of-a-kind” regeneration opportunity that would create a viable new neighbourhood as well as restoring the historic gasholders to their former glory.
However, it warned that the “exceptional abnormal costs” of preparing the site would make it impossible to achieve the 35 per cent affordable housing threshold that generally applies to the redevelopment of contaminated gasworks.
It puts the cost of disassembling and restoring the gasholders at up to £80m – in addition to the “substantial” costs relating to decontamination, enabling and remediation.
A “significant” number of affordable homes would still be included on the site, it said, with 83 social rented homes to be delivered within the first 1.89-hectare phase of the development.
“Combined, the abnormal costs of the site necessary to bring it forward to meet development plan objectives represent a signification constraint on development viability, but also a unique opportunity to restore the largest surviving group of Victorian gasholders in the world,” it said.
St William was set up as a joint venture with National Grid in 2014 to develop redundant gaswork sites into new residential neighbourhoods, before Berkeley acquired National Grid’s interest last year.
The developer is also behind the planned regeneration of the Lea Bridge gasworks in Waltham Forest, where the original scheme is under review due to increased fire-safety requirements and inflationary pressures.
https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/buildings/plan-submitted-for-2100-home-east-london-gasworks-scheme-25-10-2023/