Silvertown
Reinventing the industrial Royal Docks as a 50-acre vibrant waterside community and a new destination for London.
Location
London, UK
Size
200,000 m2
Year
2021 — 2032
Client
Lendlease & Starwood Capital
Role
Lead Public Realm & Landscape Masterplanner
Partners & Collaborators
Prior + Partners, AHMM, dRMM, Pollard Thomas Edwards, Maccreanor Lavington, Gort Scott, Arup, Aecom, and Churchman Thornhill Finch.
SLA is the Public Realm and Landscape Masterplanner for the £3.5 bn transformation of the unique Silvertown project in London’s Royal Docks.
Mills, docks, water, and broad horizons reinvented as a 50-acre vibrant heart for the Royal Docks and a new destination for London. A transformation that will see Millennium Mills restored and the creation of 1.8 million sq ft of next- generation workspace, over 6,000 new homes for every stage of life, and new space for cultural and community events.
That is Silvertown: A new London town centre with shops, restaurants, leisure, bars, and cafes – all tied together by a green and bustling public realm founded in the area’s unique industrial heritage.
The Silvertown regeneration project is a joint venture between global real estate and investments group Lendlease and Starwood Capital and will provide over 6,500 new homes and support the creation of 1.8 million sq. ft of next-generation business workspace, alongside new public space for cultural and community events. All in a strong neighborhood design that will be one of London’s greenest.
“In Silvertown, we will transform one of London’s largest brownfield sites into a new nature-rich, sustainable, and truly complete neighborhood using the industrial heritage of the site and the unique waterfront location as a driver.”
— Rasmus Astrup, Design Principal and Partner in SLA
The task of SLA and the wider design team is to revive and re-imagine Silvertown as a new waterside destination to live, create, work and play. Central to this is the planning and design of a new legible, green-blue, and attractive public realm that will reconnect the site back into the fabric of London.
The public realm masterplan will also make space for thousands of new homes and jobs. With half of the new housing earmarked for affordable homes, the project also significantly bolsters London’s supply of affordable housing stock.
“By combining a strong public realm with the values of industrial heritage, affordable housing, and job creation, Silvertown will become a blueprint for how to transform our cities’ brownfield sites into new and meaningful city districts.”
— Rasmus Astrup, Design Principal and Partner in SLA
Silvertown is the third major London public realm masterplan under development by SLA. SLA is also the Public Realm and Landscape Masterplanner for the Euston project in Camden, as well as the Landscape and Public Realm Designer for the Earls Court Development in Kensington & Chelsea.
The planning and outline permission for Silvertown was submitted in January 2023, with the first phase of the development estimated to be completed in 2032.
