Following additions to the area such as Boxpark Shoreditch, a pump of £3.5bn is being funnelled into the redevelopment of Silvertown Quays. Known to many as a derelict area of the Docklands, close to the under-subscribed Emirates Air Line, Silvertown has been in the shadows of Canary Wharf for over a decade.
Silvertown will be London’s first-ever factory-built town, whereby a factory will be built on-site to assemble the elements for 850 new homes. Residents should be moving in by 2020. Valued at a total of £3.5bn, the project will feature the new homes will be part of a grand architectural and retail design that has promised strictly to be free of skyscrapers and chain stores, which is the complete opposite in comparison to its neighbour Canary Wharf. Olaide Oboh, the spokeswoman for the Silvertown Partnership has said:
“We see it as a vibrant 24-hour area. And we are obsessed with design. We won’t build homes that are just boxes with no character or identity”
The redevelopment of Silvertown Quays has been on the cards for years. A few small developments were built on obsolete industrial land in the 80s and 90s but work slowly fell flat for a myriad of different reasons, leaving new locals stranded. The preparation and planning period has been lengthy, which was partially due to gaining planning permission for the project from the Newham council. One of the disadvantages of the redevelopment however is that it will take at least 20 years to complete, and residents will have to live through the building process.
One of the ambitious promises made by the Silvertown Partnership is that the new town will not just be for city and wharf workers, but a self-sufficient urban town that will boast independent shops, cafés, bars and restaurants, music venues and education space. Silvertown will also have a new school, a health centre, and there’ll be plenty of job creation — both during the construction and also in the new businesses that will be able to take space at the site. It’s an exciting project all around and we can’t wait to see what more it could bring to the city.