Woolwich waterfront towers rise – a look around
A little update now looking at towers rising on the former Waterfront leisure centre car park in Woolwich which will see 764 flats.
These blocks are hard to miss from many parts of Woolwich. Concrete cores have now maxed out on the first two towers.
Blocks will max out around 20-floors in height which is similar to the tallest block recently completed on the Arsenal estate. Here’s the new blocks beside those which recently welcomed their first occupants:
This shot is taken from Maribor Park which is temporary. Other flats will be built on part of it.
This stage of the Arsenal development will eventually see six blocks:
The street scene is currently poor for pedestrians and car-centric. Dated design and street clutter abound.
Renders of the completed scheme do show improvements. Again though, no cycle lane appears evident.
Heavy traffic is now common across much of the day in this area. A bus stand located on the west-bound stretch doesn’t help the flow of buses:
This stand has been a bugbear for years. Could it not be located on Hare Street around the corner? Buses are forced to pull out into slow traffic to overtake those on layover. If we are to get people out of cars then speeding up buses is a key factor.
Alongside new towers they’ll be a new public space including greenery with water features and fountains beside the Thames:
The view down Woolwich High Street has changed enormously over the past five years. In the view below we can see these towers alongside others in the Royal Arsenal plus the Callis Yard block on the right:
The Waterfront leisure centre hangs on in there. I covered the latest with proposed plans to move it just this week. It should have closed around about now if original time-scales were met.
Over the road is Furlongs garage which also sees a plan for a tower:
Views from other parts of Woolwich:
As ever, lots of change underway in Woolwich. I’ve a few more posts in the offing looking at current progress at various sites across the town.
Original time scales are never met unfortunately. Hopefully there will be more focus in the public spaces. Have tenants started moving into the callis yard block yet?
Hopefully there will be more focus on the public spaces going forward and original time scales are met. Have tenants started moving in the callis yard tower yet?
Are any new commercial units planned for opening by the waterfront? I notice the public path along the river has been partially shut for works
Steve Norris
I have been saying for years that the bus stand buy the waterfront has been an obstruction. Also Woolwhich will come to a standstill with zll these tower blocks30
I wrote to the council roads dept about the frankly dangerous bus stand years ago. Nothing done, not even a response.
Maribor Park is only temporary! That’s news to me. What a shame. There is so little green space in the immediate area. But developers don’t care about that obviously.
I raised it in my response to the Elizabeth Line bus consultation. Since then, TfL has converted one of the stops in Hare Street to a bus stand but I’ve yet to see it used.
What’s happening with Callis Yard? Is anyone actually living there?
I am living in the Callis Yard development at the moment, there are some other tenants, i would say about 10-15 more. However the general feel is that it is quite empty – not sure why that is, as on the CBRE website there are only a couple of properties that are still “for sale”.
Did you have delays moving in? A few people messaged me about a legal issue which tool time to resolve. Perhaps people extended rental terms before moving or cancelled moves so it will be a trickle moving in.
I agree with major developments happening around the Waterfront and Riverside House traffic will become busier. I also agree the that the bus stand should be on Hare Street rather than Beresford Street as this bus stand is dangerous in it’s current location.
The new 301 route could certainly stand on Hare Street the turn right in to Powis Street Right in to John Wilson Street around the roundabout back on to Beresford Street with a new first bus stop for journeys towards Bexleyheath being located by the Beefeater/Premier Inn Hotel to serve the new Waterfront Developments and the hotel. Just a thought.
Agree with both Ned and CDT the bus stand shoud be relocated on Hare Street.
I also agree with CDT’s suggestion for route 301 first stop for buses travelling towards Bexleyheath to be located by the Premier Inn Hotel and Beefeater on Beresford Street which would also be located close to the new Waterfront developments behind the hotel.