Green light for EPR’s 48-storey modular tower

The developer behind the world’s tallest residential modular building has been given the green light for another huge modular block in Canary Wharf.

Designed by EPR Architects, the 48-storey student accommodation scheme at 30 Marsh Wall will house just over 1,000 studio apartments including four amenity levels and a roof garden.

The block will be built on a highly restricted site within an emerging cluster of tall towers including a 52-storey Morris & Co scheme which was also approved this week.

EPR’s block will be built using prefabricated pods manufactured off site and transported to Marsh Wall, where they will be stacked on top of each other.

The same technique was used by the tower’s developer, Tide Construction, on a pair of 38 and 44-storey towers in Croydon which made headlines last year when they became the world’s tallest.

Tide is now building an even taller, 50-storey scheme on a neighbouring plot. All three Croydon towers were drawn up by HTA Design.

Tower Hamlets’ planning committee voted seven to one to approve the Canary Wharf block on Wednesday evening, backing a recommendation for approval given by the planning officer.

The use of off-site construction could reduce construction waste by up to 80%, according to the officer’s report, with 97% of the waste being recycled - although the scheme will require the demolition of the site’s currently vacant seven-storey block dating to the 1990s.

The report also highlighted concerns raised during the scheme’s consultation rounds, including that its facade looked “cheap and tacky”, and that the design was “out of date” and looked like a “high-rise slum block”.

Objections also questioned the necessity of building a student accommodation block in the area despite no nearby university, and suggested that it would be more sustainable to refurbish the existing building.

Other firms working on the project include modular contractor Vision Modular, landscape architect Spacehub Design, daylight consultants Avison Young, planning consultant Rolf Judd Planning and structural engineer Barrett Mahony Consulting Engineer.