Public consultation is underway on new housing proposals on the site of the former London Chest Hospital, in Bethnal Green, east London.
The proposals put forward by LDA Design and AHMM on behalf of Latimer, Clarion’s house building arm, will create up to 280 new homes. The site will be car free, maximising shared space for residents and feature a landscape design that enhances local biodiversity and sensitively references the site’s history and heritage.
The London Chest Hospital opened in 1855 to manage rising cases of tuberculosis. The Hospital’s gardens became a vital part of a patient’s recovery process. Patients were treated here up until 2015 when services were consolidated at Barts Heart Centre in West Smithfield, one of the largest cardiac centres in the world.
LDA Design’s new landscape for the site means the gardens will be of benefit again, this time featuring a welcome lawn, woodland play, and community courtyard and square.
The plans protect the site’s veteran black mulberry tree, which at around 400 years is said to be east London’s oldest tree, and will restore hedgerows to allow wildlife to thrive.
The new proposals include the refurbishment of the hospital’s Grade II Listed main building, sanitary tower, and south wing.
Image: Illustrative landscape masterplan for the site of the former London Chest Hospital.
