Our research has shown that the features homeowners value most about their home are not necessarily associated with the building itself, but more with the environment in which it is located. Factors such as neighbourhood, safety, greenery and access to amenities are cited as more important than simply building attractive buildings. These must be created by focussing on the relationship between individual developments and the wider area or in other words ‘placemaking’.

While the planning system often requires some form of mixed use development in large scale schemes, ‘placemaking’ is paramount in regeneration schemes which can’t rely on the services and amenities of established neighbourhoods.

King’s Cross is a clear success story. Despite it only being part way through the delivery period, it already feels vibrant. Stratford has also been transformed over the past decade. The Olympics brought with it the centre piece of the sports stadium, certainty of delivery within a strict deadline and significant investment in infrastructure, retail and public realm up front.

Its success is reflected in the high demand for rental property at East Village that has brought a critical mass of people to the area. The addition of Crossrail is the icing on the cake.

By comparison, the regeneration of Paddington worked less well at the beginning as a result of little early investment in the wider environment. Large blocks were delivered in isolation with little design interaction with the surrounding Georgian townhouses. Installation of high quality public realm and a greater mix of uses only came in later phases.

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Old Oak Common

With little in the area other than light industry, there is a great opportunity to give Old Oak Common the King’s Cross treatment.

It has been proposed by TFL that Old Oak Common station should become a super-hub, with an interchange between HS2, Crossrail and the Overground. Savills believes that this is a crucial element in the improvement of the transport network, and would have significant impact on the scope of development and potential for successful placemaking at Old Oak Common.

The area, which has been proposed as a new Opportunity Area, comprises 155 hectares of developable land, much of which is within public ownership, which should facilitate delivery.

In “Old Oak – a vision for the future”, the Mayor argues that the area, with its new transport interchange, would have the capacity to deliver a potential 24,000 new homes and 55,000 jobs over the next 30 years.

The Mayor’s vision also considers a sports stadium, as an early phase of development. Given that Queens Park Rangers have recently announced plans to relocate there, creating an event space could be the key to putting Old Oak Common on the map by giving it an early identity. This would create momentum and attract other components of successful ‘placemaking’.

Other uses will include education (Imperial and University College are looking to expand), an industrial area, waste facilities, retail, schools, healthcare and other community and sports facilities required to support a growing neighbourhood.

Barking Riverside

Barking Riverside has planning permission for up to 10,800 new homes, as well as healthcare, shopping, community and leisure facilities. With property values under £300 psf, most Londoners should be able to afford to buy or rent a home here.

However, significant transport infrastructure must be built to support the currently poorly connected development. TFL is currently consulting on the extension of the Overground to Barking Riverside, where a new station would be built.

We estimate that the resulting reduction in travel time to main employment centres combined with place improvement could result in a 67% uplift in local property values whilst still maintaining a significant discount to prices at competitor locations.

CASE STUDY: KING’S CROSS

At the end of the last century, King’s Cross was a 67-acre semi derelict, impenetrable and partially contaminated urban piece of land. It has become a major transport hub, including six Underground lines, two mainline train stations and a high speed rail line to Paris, Brussels and Lille.

The detailed planning process took eight years. One of the catalysts for the project was the scale of infrastructure investment at King’s Cross and St Pancras that had to be delivered to underwrite the UK’s Olympic bid, which was won in July 2005.

The completion of HS1 in November 2007, gave the project a further boost. Construction began in 2008 and by the time the final works are delivered in 2020, it will have taken 12 years to complete 55 buildings.

King’s Place was completed in 2008, a mixed use development with leisure and office space working side by side, incorporating a concert hall, conference and event space, as well as offices. Regent Quarter and St Pancras Chambers were subsequently completed, including residential, office space and a hotel.

Attracting the University of the Arts early on was key. The students brought the creative tone and helped draw in Google, which has commissioned the firm’s largest office outside its Googleplex headquarters in California.

Taken from
Spotlight: London Infrastructure - Connecting Opportunities