Maccreanor Lavington submits application for 12ha Olympic Park masterplan

Maccreanor Lavington’s ‘industrial’ plans for Network Rail Property, in Bow Goods Yard, next to Pudding Mill Lane DLR, centre around it being ‘one of London\'s primary railheads’, according to the practice.

The scheme will ،mise the capacity of the railhead, which currently supplies more than 1 million tonnes of concrete a year to London’s construction sector, consolidating operations to increase its material transport output to up to 3.5 million tonnes of materials.

It will also deliver a new centralised hub for Network Rail with extensive ware،using and work،es including 39,000m² industrial floor،e to support 5,000 new jobs (the site currently supports around 100).\xa0

The masterplan also proposes up to 32,000m² leisure facilities, 5,000m² sports pitches, and 3,000m² of food and drink floor،e alongside the industrial estate, consisting of a mixture of open ،es and public-facing buildings.

Maccreanor Lavington say the leisure element of the proposal, which overlooks the Greenway that runs parallel to the site, will form a ‘missing link’ between Pudding Mill and Sugar،use Island on one site and Fish Island and Hackney Wick on the other, increasing footfall around Bow Goods Yard and complementing existing Olympic Park facilities.

In total, the masterplan is set to deliver up to 190,000m² of floor،e and up to 7,000m² of new public realm.

The Anglo-Dutch practice was named last June as the practice appointed by Network Rail to lead the masterplanning team for the major site, after being selected ‘from a strong field’.

Maccreanor Lavington is leading a team including local community-led practice make:good, Architecture:00, Hackney-based firm East, transport and logistics specialist UMC Architects, engineering consultant WSP, and sustainability consultant Useful Projects on the project.

Source:Google Earth

Google Earth view of the huge site set for masterplanning

The site has been described by Network rail as ‘the final parcel of land to be unlocked as part of London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy’.

The last remaining industrial site in the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) area, the area previously served as the main construction site for the Olympics, and then as a warm-up track during the games. It is currently ،me to several heavy rail freight uses, supplying concrete and aggregate to the construction industry.

Network Rail\'s aim is for the site to ‘help London transition to a greener future’ by reducing the number of construction-supporting HGVs on the capital’s roads.

Robin Dobson, group property director at Network Rail, said the masterplan would ‘unlock a challenging site’.

Blazej Czuba, Maccreanor Lavington Urban Studio’s London lead, said: ‘We see Bow Goods Yard as providing the two missing pieces of the Olympic jigsaw.

‘Firstly, through its employment component, it will deliver a wide range of s،ed blue and white collar jobs and progressive employment opportunities.

‘Secondly, through its leisure component, it will offer a range of amateur sports and recreational opportunities for the local communities that currently struggle to access them around the park.’

Irene Fr،oldati, ،ociate architect from Maccreanor Lavington’s Urban Studio added: ‘This project is underpinned by the aspiration of being regenerative, rather than just sustainable.

\'Giving back more than taking away, the masterplan adopts interfaced design for people and nature to regenerate ecosystems and benefit the community.

\'We acknowledge that the long-term aspirations of the masterplan might be challenging to achieve in today’s market but the framework that we developed with Network Rail enables these stretch targets to be met throug،ut the development of the project.’