Tesco in Woolwich to begin construction next month
The huge Tesco store at Love Lane in Woolwich should begin construction next month after a delay of a couple of years. A deal has just been signed for construction to begin with developer Willmott Dixon. For such a huge scheme I have not seen much about it at all. A common problem in South East London with no decent local papers. I vaguely recall seeing some renders that looked pretty awful so off I went hoping to see if changes had been made. Here it is –
The answer is no. It’s the same plan. Looks awful. Overbearing and top heavy. Commits the contemporary sins of random cladding strips, and using a drab colour scheme of variations of grey. I believe this is looking at the corner where the old post office currently stands. More images are here on the architects (Sheppard Robinsons) site. It will look bleak on a cloudy day with it’s looming grey blocks if the renders are anything to go by, and Woolwich doesn’t need more bleak.
The store and 100 flats should be ready by late summer 2012. The rest should be complete by late 2013.
This is one of Tesco’s new towns. They’ve grown restless with opening shops every 5 yards across many towns across the UK, and so now have branched out into building whole towns. It’s a bit much to expect such a massive company making £3 billion profit a year to do anything more than poor and cheap developments it seems. They’ve got another one in Bromley-By-Bow lined up.
That one there had a bit of a mauling from CABE. The masterplan has the retail shed close to the river, and much of the housing next to the Blackwall approach road. Moronic. Completely the wrong way around. Tesco have ignored CABE’s advice and are will now be building it as they see fit. Decent air quality for residents, and making the most of the natural assets of the site don’t figure at all.
Interesting, thanks for the post – been enjoying the blog, there’s very few that focus on this area of SE London. As for the development, you’re right, it looks like a lot of the faceless stuff they’re building around Deptford and Greenwich.
This is very interesting to me. Thank you. I used to live in Shooters Hill and Woolwich was my local shopping centre and occasional work place. I worked for some time at Greenwich District Hospital and my route home was through Woolwich to catch the bus near the Woolwich Arsenal station. This was in the 80’s and I loved it. These plans look awful to me. Woolwich is losing its identity and that is a great shame.
I especially loathe Tesco and the damage it is wreaking throughout our land and here, again, is an example.
I shall visit Woolwich one of these days to see how much it has changed.
I welcome It. I current live in Woolwich Common and when I first moved here Woolwich was a dump, I have heard from many people Woolwich used to be a nice place but then immigrants from Poland and Nigeria moved here. So hopefully this will be a nice little change.
The implication of your statement is that Polish and Nigerian immigrants living in and about the area, are detrimental to Woolwich being a nice place. How ignorant.
Interesting that Tesco is the first supermarket in town for 30 years. That might be news to the Sainsbury and Somerfield lot dontchathink?
Nice to hear from you. It’s worth a visit as it has undergone lots of changes, and continues to do so with the DLR train link, and in forthcoming years the olympics and crossrail. I don’t know it from the 80s, but everyone tells me it has gone downhill a huge amount. Big sums are being spent on buildings, though sadly much of it is pretty bad. The jewels it has, such as the Bingo Hall (old cinema) and the art deco co-op, are not utilised anywhere near their potential. Indeed there was a plan pre-recession to demolish the co-op and replace it directly with a multistorey car park, attached to a humdrum building.
Alex – thanks for that. You’re right in that their is somewhat of an information vacuum in SE London, though thankfully there are lot’s of great bloggers around.
Plummy Mummy – Yep Woolwich never really did catch on with the big supermarket developments of previous decades. I think the Co-Op (previously somerfield and before that gateway) is a let 80s/early 90s development, so a long gap. There’s the lidl’s as well that was a Safeway from around the same time. I was told by some regeneration folks 5 years ago that Sainsbury’s had eyes on the old Woolwich Poly site.
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Sheppard Robson’s aim is to rejuvenate the area, the design sure is innovative and compared to the rest of Woolwich it’s definitely an improvement. Also I’m not sure if you’re aware but a lot of the colours have been changed. Just be thankful it isn’t giant rectangles of concrete like the rest of Woolwich or the world for that matter.
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Darryl says “….Woolwich used to be a nice place but then immigrants from Poland and Nigeria moved here.” So Darryl, was it the Polish and Nigerians wreaking havoc through Woolwich last summer I wonder, I don’t think so……………..idiot
Woolwich is full of rubbish. The african market needs to be smashed down because it looks poor and nasty. Re-build if you must but it needs to go as it presently stands. PS: I like the Tesco building.