Poplar

The site

A small, vacant plot of surplus land owned by Transport for London in Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was one of the first sites released through the Mayor of London's Small Sites Small Builders programme, and our first scheme with TfL and the GLA. We exchanged contracts with TfL and took the scheme through planning.

Designing for a constrained site

Small sites are rarely simple. The design had to deal with:

• A BT cable crossing the site.
• A risk of unexploded ordnance, common in this part of East London.
• Flood risk: the building is designed for a 1 in 100 year flood event.
• Daylight and sunlight: five storeys next to a two-storey Victorian terrace, designed to meet BRE guidance.
• Building right up to the boundary, planned with a gantry scaffold and branded hoarding.

Planning granted

Planning was granted for 9 new homes over five storeys.

Where it is now

The planning permission has been implemented and works on site have started. Enabling works involving utilities are pending. The image at the top of this page is a CGI of the approved scheme.