Crossrail effect: Abbey Wood’s 22-floor tower tops out

A picture taken at Abbey Wood station this week nicely encapsulates the transformative effects Crossrail will play in parts of London, as two new towers are seen from the recently rebuilt station lying beyond a train in advance of Elizabeth Line services.

These two towers are built to rent blocks aimed mainly at younger people looking to make the most of fast transport links across London.

In total they provide 245 flats with the tallest block reaching 22 floors in height. Commercial space is located at street level.

The site sits beside Cross Quarter development comprising flats and a Sainsbury’s superstore.

An as-yet station entrance nearby sits unopened awaiting the first taps from passengers.

This entrance is one factor that will make an extension beyond Abbey Wood towards Kent a difficult feat. The newly constructed station would need large-scale rebuilding.

I’m not sure what’s happening with the concrete blocks dumped down. £6 million was spent on expensive street upgrades around the station then over a year ago these were dumped down and have remained ever since.

Blocks are balanced somewhat precariously on slabs.

Cladding is now being applied and most visible on the smaller of the two blocks:

Here’s how they’re due to look upon completion:

A bullet was dodged when original plans saw an extremely negative reception:

Drab grey was the order of the day:

The smaller of the two had small square windows in a squat block:

Beside the blocks lies Lyndean industrial estate, where 600 further homes are possible.

Bexley Council also plan to build at the former car park beside the station and flyover:

Head north and work is finally completing in Thamesmead, though there’s huge swathes of empty land.

The site on the left as seen in the above image is set to see housing:

A car wash on site closed this weekend in advance of building.

So quite a lot going on then, and an example of the huge impact transport projects have on surrounding areas.

A follow-up post will take a closer look around Thamesmead after a venture there a few days ago. I’ll also look at Abbey Wood estate, where residents of 3,000 homes have seen fewer benefits on their neglected estate from the surge in activity nearby.