Another tower proposed in Greenwich – this one 36 storeys

With much recent focus on developer Knight Dragon’s 15000 home masterplan at Greenwich Peninsula it has been easy to forget that other developments are being worked on at the Peninsula. One of those is a tower directly in front of the o2 arena, and a planning application has now been submitted.

It’s a big tower – 36 storeys in height, making it 115 metres tall. The smaller, secondary building is 42m tall. The developers are AEG Europe, who operate the o2 arena, and the architects are Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.

The height seems about right for such a location, with many other towers planned nearby. One concern is sufficient planning for infrastructure in the vicinity. The Jubilee Line will have a very hard time coping with the multitude of vast developments at almost every station on its eastern end. Lack of infrastructure is often cited as a reason not to build. On the contrary, building and population growth is a reason to greatly speed up infrastructure.

The total number of flats planned totals 395 across the tower and smaller building beside, with commercial space at street level. With these buildings facing onto the square and entrance to the o2 filling them should be easy.

Piling is also now well underway on Knight Dragon’s towers just to the east. This how they will appear:

In addition, plans for a 1800 pupil, 200 staff capacity school nearby on the Peninsula are moving ahead quickly. I’ll focus on that in a follow up post. It’s hard to envisage the Jubilee Line, and particularly buses, catering for all the additional demand in the next 10 years given current levels of crowding. Crossrail will help alleviate the Jubilee in part, but the sheer scale of planned housing in close proximity to many stations means any respite could be short lived. Thames Clipper ferries could provide a big solution here, at least for those heading west to Canary Wharf and central London. In addition, a bridge over to Canary Wharf from the Peninsula looks all the more pressing.

UPDATE: The masterplan was revised up but Knight Dragon have been extremely slow to build across their various plots. In addition, AEG did not pursue this plan.

One final point regarding the Peninsula – former cllr and local expert Mary Mills has a new book out covering a wide ranging history of the Peninsula. Details are here.