Landowner Aviva Investors, in conjunction with leading London developer Galliard Homes, has received a Resolution to Grant planning permission from Southwark Council for their proposals to regenerate the Cantium Retail Park into a new £600 million (Gross Development Value) mixed-use destination for the Old Kent Road, including a landmark 48-storey (525 ft/160m) residential tower, which will become the fourth tallest residential tower in London once complete.
Situated at 520 Old Kent Road, the 1.9-hectare (five acre) Cantium Retail Park will be redeveloped to provide a series of striking new buildings ranging from three to 48-storeys, designed around a new public square, pedestrian boulevards, piazzas and landscaped areas, fronting onto a new linear park.
The project has been designed by two award-winning local Southwark architectural practices. The landmark residential tower has been designed by Cecile Brisac and Edgar Gonzalez of Brisac Gonzalez while the other buildings are designed by Alan Camp of Alan Camp Architects.
The new destination will provide 1,113 new homes, including apartments, maisonettes, penthouses and townhouses, 60,913 sqft (5,659 sqm) of office floorspace, 23,982 sqft of retail space, 25,144 sqft of flexible space for restaurants, café, cinema and leisure premises and 6,415 sqft of space for cultural facilities such as a youth theatre or mini-opera house. The shops, restaurants and cafes are expected to create up to 580 new jobs.
The new development will provide one hectare of new public open space in the form of a linear park with trees, planting, parkland, waterfeatures and pedestrian boulevards, connecting with the neighbouring 140 acre (56 hectare) Burgess Park, one of the largest parks in South London.
Other open/green spaces within the scheme will include a new public square, courtyard garden, two children’s play areas and a raised podium garden. The development is complete with car parking, cycle bays, landscaping and new infrastructure works.
Of the 1,113 homes there will be 750 private sale units including 735 apartments, duplexes and penthouses. The private sale apartments will be located in the 48-storey residential tower and an adjacent 13-storey building, located on the south-eastern side of the development.
The two residential buildings will provide studio suite, one, two and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 39 square metres to 86 square metres in size. The buildings will be connected at ground level by a double height entrance lobby with concierge, lifts and lounge/waiting areas. There will also be a retail boulevard of premium units at the ground level, which will neighbour and overlook the linear park.
Private sale apartments will also occupy a series of low-rise four-storey apartment buildings overlooking a small park, located on the western side of the development, neighbouring a new tree-lined terrace of 15 three-storey four-bedroom London townhouses.
