The £2bn masterplan for Canada Water: plans for a huge network of skyscrapers and low-rise buildings make Canary Wharf's Zone 2 neighbour one to watch
Canada Water sits a single Tube stop from Canary Wharf — but in development terms it is about 30 years behind its more glamorous neighbour.
This former London dock has been sad and neglected for decades. But now, with prices in Canary Wharf rocketing, developers have turned their attentions to the south side of the Thames and Canada Water. Smart buyers should start to watch this space.
FIRST HOMES ON SALE BY 2020
The big player is British Land, which will submit a planning application in the spring for a 46-acre site between Southwark Park and Russia Dock Woodland. The application will set out, in broad brushstrokes, its plans for the entire site, as well as revealing the fine detail of the first phase which will include 650 homes.
Work would start on site in 2019, with the first homes going on sale in 2020, and the first residents moving in the following year.
Regeneration has been a long time coming for Canada Water, on a downward spiral since its docks closed in the Sixties. Attempts to revive the area — Surrey Quays shopping centre, and the fabulous triangle library perched on the edge of Canada Water itself — have been piecemeal rather than place making. But British Land’s project is on a completely different scale.
It will create a community lifestyle with up to 3,500 new homes, a new high street, shops, restaurants, and two million square feet of workspace over the next 15 years, spending a reported £2 billion in the process. There are negotiations ongoing with King’s College London, which already owns an adjacent plot of land, to create a new campus at Canada Water.
FURTHER APPEAL
Transport for London is working separately on plans for a new pedestrian bridge over the Thames from Canada Water to Canary Wharf. Existing transport links include two Zone 2 stations — Surrey Quays and Canada Water — plus riverbus services to Canary Wharf.
Beyond good train links Canada Water already has some appeal. The Printworks, a multipurpose 6,000-capacity music and arts event space, opened in January. Greenland Dock, once at the heart of London’s shipping industry, is home to the Surrey Docks Fitness and Watersports Centre where activities include sailing and kayaking. Southwark Park has football pitches, free tennis courts and a café, while the area’s city farm, Surrey Docks Farm, has a fantastic café.
Emma Cariaga, head of operations for British Land at Canada Water, believes these open spaces will give the new neighbourhood an entirely different vibe to Canary Wharf. “The character of the area will define our vision for this place. There is an abundance of open spaces and open water. It’s very different in character to Canary Wharf.
“There will be a network of open spaces, new parks and town squares, crucial to link the existing open spaces. It is in the centre of London but it will feel airy and unique.”
'AFFORDABLE' HOMES AND STARCHITECTURE
In total British Land will be putting up some 40 new buildings. Tower blocks are banned from a swathe of the site to protect views between Tower Bridge to Greenwich, which means buildings of up to six storeys. But closer to the stations British Land has plans for towers of up to 50 storeys. “So you’ve got quite an interesting contrast,” explains Cariaga.
The vexed issue of affordable housing — exactly how many low-cost homes for priced-out first-time buyers and struggling renters will be provided on the site — remains unanswered.
Southwark council’s policy on affordable housing insists that just over a third of homes on major developments will be affordable. In reality this is rarely achieved and Cariaga says it is too early to quote on affordable homes across Canada Water.
Notting Hill Housing association has teamed up with Sellar, the developer behind the Shard, to build more than 1,000 new homes on an eight-acre site close to British Land’s holdings, with about a quarter affordable.
The partners have recruited starchitects Maccreanor Lavington and Stirling Prize winner David Chipperfield, and the first phase of 234 homes, a café, and a new Decathlon sports shop with a public fitness centre on its roof, is due to complete in spring.
These homes will be for rent through Notting Hill’s subsidiary Folio London. Prices are not yet available, but the association currently has two-bedroom flats at nearby Royal Wharf for about £1,600 a month. Plans include new restaurants around Canada Water itself and new sports facilities, plus gardens and terraces to complement British Land’s green vision for the area.
WHAT CAN I BUY NOW?
Developments are already springing up around Canada Water, although their residents will have to put up with the area being rebuilt around them.
One of the smartest is London Square Canada Water, built to the developer’s trademark design of mid-rise homes overlooking a central courtyard garden.
It enjoys marvellous views of Canary Wharf, but prices are punchy. Two-bedroom flats are on sale for up to £1.2 million. Call 03339 872521.
Less glitzy is L&Q’s Quebec Quarter, another low-rise option and equidistant between Surrey Quays and Canada Water stations, for rail, Overground and Tube. Two-bedroom flats start from £675,000.
Local period buildings are in short supply but there is a converted pump house in Pump House Close. A one-bedroom flat there is for sale priced £535,000. Call KFH on 020 8012 2766.
Buyers on smaller budgets could consider one of Canada Water’s Eighties blocks. Dated-looking now, they will nevertheless benefit from the billions being spent on the area. A two-bedroom flat will cost £350,000 to £450,000 and a one-bedroom starter flat should be about £300,000.