SLA appointed Public Realm Masterplanner for Silvertown

06.02.2023

Better Communities, Biodiversity & ecosystem services, Climate action

SLA appointed Public Realm Masterplanner for £3.5 bn Silvertown transformation

We are appointed Public Realm and Landscape Masterplanner for Silvertown – the £3,5 billion development project transforming the Royal Docks in East London into a new, green, and bustling mixed-use city district founded in industrial heritage.

The Silvertown transformation will see iconic structures such as the Millenium Mill and Silo D restored and reinvented into new community assets. Likewise, Silvertown's public realm design uses the site's industrial heritage and the neighborhood's unique waterfront location as a driver.

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

Silvertown is one of London's largest brownfield developments, turning an area previously left derelict and largely disused for 40 years into a new neighborhood - founded in the existing buildings, industrial heritage, and selfgrown nature.

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 will become the new cultural hub for the Royal Docks, with brand-new arts and leisure facilities, cafés, restaurants, and bars for residents and visitors. New public squares will host cultural events, while green spaces will provide access to nature and encourage walking, running, cycling, and playing.

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.

The project is done for our great clients Lendlease and Starwood Capital together with Greater London Authority, London Borough of Newham, and our friends Prior & Partners, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, dRMM, Pollard Thomas Edwards, Maccreanor Lavington, Gort Scott, Arup, AECOM, and Churchman Thornhill Finch.