Green light for Allies & Morrison’s £3bn Canada Water job

Allies & Morrison has been given the green light for its mammoth £3.3bn Canada Water redevelopment, designed for British Land.

The developer had been hoping for a decision from Southwark council earlier this year but workload pressures meant the authority pushed the date back until the autumn.

Originally submitted last May, planners last night finally approved Allies & Morrison’s masterplan for the mixed-use scheme which will see more than 40 buildings built at a 53 acre site in south east London over the next 15 years. It will include two million sq ft of workspace for 20,000 people and 3,000 homes.

Because of its size, London mayor Sadiq Khan will have the final say on whether it will go ahead. British Land’s joint head of Canada Water, Emma Cariaga, told BD she was hoping for a decision by Christmas.

As well as the masterplan, drawn up by Allies & Morrison, the first three buildings at the site have also been given the OK.

Included is a 35-storey tower, also designed by Allies & Morrison, which is known in the plans as A1. The second building, A2, another Allies & Morrison scheme, is a leisure centre for the council while a smaller residential building, K1, designed by Morris & Co was approved as well.

Consultants working across all three buildings at Canada Water include project and cost manager Aecom, structural engineer AKT II and services consultant Sweco.

Work on the three buildings is due to start by the middle of next year and finish in 2024 by which time Cariaga said 3,000 people could be based there with a further 500 people living there.

As well as offices and homes, the scheme will also have retail, leisure and education space.

The site includes the abandoned Daily Mail printworks and the disused Rotherhithe police station.

Cariaga said the printworks, which has been used as a music venue, would be turned into a music, cultural and events space.