Woolwich towers gain a bit of colour

Two Woolwich towers under construction at the former Waterfront car park site have begun to see cladding applied.

These are the latest two out of six to eventually appear on site from developer Berkeley Homes, with two already completed to the east.

Greenwich Council sold land here back in 2007. The first four blocks should eventually have a different colour scheme while retaining many of the same design elements.

Building four will also contain a commercial unit facing Woolwich High Street.

No such commercial space is planned facing the Thames. Seems a bit odd as it’d make a good spot for a café with views and potential space for outside seating.

The buildings have some hefty bulk and massing, and an attempt to alleviate that is made with strong vertical emphasis upon cladding.

Preliminary planning applications have been submitted regarding the final two towers set to follow, but no detailed visual CGI’s have yet appeared.

Some general designs from years ago do exist, but no reserved matters containing detailed information on design unless I’ve missed it (and I’ve been looking).

The next two are supposed to contain a podium between towers.

That brings blocks right up to the edge of Waterfront leisure centre, which is set to close with services moved to a new build on General Gordon Square with almost 500 homes planned.

The growth of residential towers over beside Woolwich High Street has not been matched by the creation of people-friendly streets or a cycle lane:

Riverside House on the left has another plan to convert to residential usage with 209 flats. It’s currently artist studios.

As ever in Woolwich a walk around reveals plenty of changes from week to week, let alone month to month.

I’ve been taking hundreds of pictures to document change (300 in the past two weeks alone) and will write some follow-up posts looking at other parts of town in coming days.