A look at Woolwich towers
It’s been a few months since I last put up a post looking at new Woolwich towers beside the Thames.
These are the first two of five eventual blocks by Berkeley Homes on the former Waterfront leisure centre car park.
A new water feature will be installed between these towers and blocks completed to the east.
Retail space will face the street (pink in above image) though there’s little commercial space facing the Thames.
The towers are quite the bruts. There seems to be a cap here on heights so no tower reaches above 20 floors, creating a wall effect.
How detailing alleviate this – or attempts to – will be one to study.
It’s not a people friendly area. LA post last week looked at how pedestrians are forced onto narrow pavements and crossings.
You may notice how the road dominates this area.
I will look at street changes in a future post. I’ve previously covered street upgrade plans in this area which showed no cycle lane and narrow pavement on Beresford Street and Woolwich High Street. Cycle Highway 4 from Greenwich to Woolwich stops just west of here beside the Woolwich ferry. There doesn’t appear much in the way of passive provision in most areas east to continue in future and link to segregated lanes nearer Plumstead.
These tower blocks look huge when you pass them I thought they were going to higher than 20 floors to be honest.
I am pleased to see retail space is to be included in this development, One thing that as become apparant of late is the lack of amenities and infrastructure around the Borough for the amount of new homes constructed and under construction.
I hope Hare Street is also regenerated and buildings refurbished in the near future as now looking rather neglected. .
Hare Street leads down to the Waterfront Leisure Centre and the Woolwich Tower development.
Do you know if construction is still going on even with lockdown?
Yes it is. I just walked past the development and there is a construction activity there. Construction industry was classified as crucial to the economy and the lock down does not really apply to construction work.