Plans have been submitted for the redevelopment of Carpenters Estate in Stratford, one of London’s largest and most ambitious estate regeneration programmes.
The outline planning application is being brought forward by Newham Council’s wholly-owned housing delivery company, with a multidisciplinary team led by the Tibbalds CampbellReith JV and including LDA Design as landscape architects, and Metropolitan Workshop and Proctor & Matthews Architects who are collaborating on the masterplan.
First developed between 1968 and 1972, Carpenters Estate covers a 28-acre site surrounded by Stratford High Road, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford City and Stratford Station in east London.
The new masterplan follows extensive consultation and co-design with estate residents and local stakeholders, and will deliver up to 2,022 new, refurbished and replacement homes. It establishes a network of multi-functional open spaces and green pedestrian routes. This high-quality, finer grained network supports a 15-minute neighbourhood, with everything to live a good quality life within easy reach, with community, education and commercial facilities.
Seven key open spaces range from a central neighbourhood green to lively public squares animated by spill-out spaces and distinctive play features. The spaces are designed to complement each other and collectively strengthen community bonds by integrating a variety of social opportunities for residents across the estate, improving access to play for children, encouraging active lifestyles, and supporting urban greening. A large neighbourhood park is surrounded by lower-rise apartment buildings, houses and maisonettes served by intimate mews streets and communal courtyards.
Ben Walker, a director at LDA Design and London studio lead, said: “The people of Carpenters Estate have a strong community spirit and deserve a great place to live, and this landscape-led masterplan will deliver it.
“We have loved working with residents and found the process hugely rewarding. I think we’ve arrived at a genuinely co-designed masterplan fit for 21st century Londoners, and there’s so much great work to carry forward to other estate regenerations. The nature-rich public realm is designed to be welcoming, inclusive and a learning environment, which encourages ownership of public space.”
The proposals includes new buildings for the Building Crafts College, and improved access into Stratford Station and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Commercial and employment spaces are focussed along the site’s northern edge, adjacent to the railway line. These will deliver a range of workspace, training and commercial opportunities.
In total, over £1 billion will be invested in restoring the estate and creating new homes through phased plans that will be delivered over the next 15-20 years.
Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz is delighted that progress is being made in the restoration of Carpenters Estate. “After decades of waiting and being left behind, residents can finally take comfort that they have a Council which is forging ahead to deliver on the promises I made to deliver much needed homes they can afford. We are making substantial progress with the Carpenters Estate restoration and regeneration programme and submitting the outline masterplan is a demonstration of our commitment to transforming the estate into a vibrant community and neighbourhood instead of a ghost town languishing because of historical neglect. The plan also better connects the estate to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park so that residents benefit more from this incredible public asset.”
Visualisations by Proctor and Matthews and Metropolitan Workshop.
