Old gasworks in Wood Green turned into 1,000 new homes

The site will have a centrepiece plaza, which is probably where the similarity with Sloane Square begins and ends.

However, the scheme will be designed by big-name architects Make, led by Ken Shuttleworth, famous for the Gherkin.

Six years after the Haringey Heartlands project was first unveiled, and more than a year after a planning application for the 12-acre site was submitted by the London Development Agency and National Grid, Haringey Council is finally ready to rule on the proposals.

If approved, it will mean up to 1,080 new homes, many of them affordable, built on the brownfield site.

The scheme has been designed by leading architects Make, led by Ken Shuttleworth, who famously also designed the Gherkin. It also includes shops and cafes and - in an effort to encourage sustainability - rooftop allotments will be provided for residents atop some of the blocks.

“Our proposal seeks to provide 950 to 1,080 residential units with associated commercial and community uses focused around a major new public square and a series of well-connected streets and spaces,” said a spokesman for the project.

The centrepiece plaza will be used for festivals, events and markets. There will also be a wildlife garden and a “tree lined urban boulevard” cutting through the site.

To encourage green travel residents will be eligible to join a car-sharing club and there will be electric vehicle charging points provided.

The project has, however, proved controversial in some quarters. A group of local residents are outraged that it will involve demolishing a 19th-century gasholder – said to have inspired the criss-cross design of Shuttleworth’s Gherkin.

Objectors are calling for the structure to be saved and incorporated in the design, citing the example of King’s Cross where a series of historic gasholders have been retained and made a focal point of the on-going redevelopment.