We submitted an ambitious masterplan application this month to regenerate 30 acres of land at Bow Goods Yard in East London.
Find out how our plans are set to boost the economy, freight industry and local community …
A freight campus for the capital
Bow Goods Yard – the last major parcel of land to be regenerated as part of the Olympic legacy – is already a vital centre for London’s construction industry. Over a million tonnes of concrete a year is made on site, and the building materials transported by freight to and from Bow Goods Yard are used to build schools, hospitals and housing.
Rail freight plays a large role in the UK economy, contributing £2.5bn nationally a year. It’s also a greener way to transport materials than by road.
We’ve worked with architecture and engineering firms Maccreanor Lavington Architects and Urbanists, UMC Architects, Architecture 00, East, WSP and make:good to develop the plans. We’ve also teamed up with consultants Useful Projects, Montagu Evans, and Currie and Brown.
A rail freight logistics hub
Our masterplan includes plans to develop this site into London’s largest integrated rail-freight logistics hub. The site will have more warehousing for the sorting and moving of more goods.
Rail will transport up to 3.5 million tonnes of construction material to and from the site. This will take up to 90,000 lorries off the roads each year – reducing emissions and congestion.
Working with communities
We talked to over 500 residents, stakeholders and local businesses when developing our masterplan. This helped us set principles for the development, including plans to:
- enhance the land and neighbourhood by screening off the industrial activity on site
- improve connections and routes on site to enhance safety
- create a green, wild and useable landscape for biodiversity net gain and to make pockets of the site accessible to the public for the first time
- deliver benefits to the community, including jobs and skills training.
The masterplan also includes the opportunity to create workspaces that will help boost the economy. The site only supports around 100 jobs today but our changes will support up to 5,000.
Greener public spaces
We also hope to create up to 7,000m² of new, publicly accessible green open spaces to complement the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This, coupled with plans to improve the Old Ford Wood, will mean at least a 10% biodiversity net gain.
Robin Dobson, group property director at Network Rail, said: “By reimagining the land-use, we are creating a state-of-the-art freight, warehousing and logistics campus that is vital to a more sustainable London. The new green spaces and leisure areas will positively contribute to the local community now and in the future. Being a better, more sustainable neighbour is a clear priority for us.”
