Maxwan, architects and urbanists, working in association with Karres en Brands, has been chosen as masterplanner for Barking Reach. This 150 hectare brownfield site is one of the five strategic areas outlined in last week’s announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott “Creating Sustainable Communities”, as capable of supporting new settlements in the Thames Gateway.

Maxwan will provide a development framework to expand the housing potential of the site so that it can support at least 11,000 homes, with a substantial element of affordable housing and high levels of innovation in design, energy and construction.

Work will start on a new concept masterplan this month with the aim of submitting an outline planning application in Spring. A programme outlining the timetable for public consultation will be published soon.

Mike Appleton, Executive Director of English Partnerships, said:

“We are delighted to have attracted such high profile European urban designers, they will bring inspirational thinking and practical ideas to this important flagship project in the Thames Gateway.”

“We look forward to working with Bellway, the LDA, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Maxwan to make Barking Reach a vibrant, enjoyable and affordable place to live and work.”

Rients Dijkstra, Director of Maxwan, said: “Barking Reach is one of the largest underdeveloped sites in Greater London.”

“The Barking Reach development will have to be much more than ‘a large new community’ given it’s size, it’s future proximity on a magnificent site overlooking the Thames, it should contribute to - a legacy of new living environments for the 21st century.”

“One of the biggest assets of the Barking Reach site is its position on the river Thames. We don’t want to create a thin strip of city along the river; we want the development to benefit from its qualities of space and atmosphere.”

“We will try and find ways of giving the river a presence in larger parts of the future community. We will have to collaborate with our colleagues, find historical and contemporary examples from all over the world and learn from them and invite people to talk about their experiences and aspirations for the site’s new future.”

Barking Reach

Barking Reach lies within the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham on the north bank of the River Thames and south of the A13. The site enjoys the benefit of 2km of south facing river frontage.

The majority of the site was formerly in the ownership of National Power and until the 1970s was used for generating electricity from two coal-fired and one oil-fired power station and disposing of the resultant waste. The remainder of the site was a former LCC landfill site. Bellway acquired the majority of the site from National Power in 1999.

Although the site area extends to 150 ha the legacy of power generating equipment and remnants of previous land uses reduces the remaining developable area to 71 ha (excluding the landfill site). It is estimated that it will take some 11 years to remediate the site and make it suitable for development and 12-15 years to complete the project.

Some 900 new homes have already been built and ambitious plans are in preparation for the construction of up to 11,000 new homes on the site. This will include a significant number of affordable and key worker accommodation. The development will also include a full range of social, education and community facilities as well as retail and leisure opportunities.

Significant improvements to the existing transport network are required in order to realise the capacity of the site. The Mayor has committed to bringing ELT to Barking Reach and a feasibility study is to commence on extending the DLR to Dagenham Dock through the site.