MyCity: LONDON

CANARY WHARF

The London Docklands Development Corporation was established in 1981 by the government to catalyse development and revitalise the derelict East London Docklands area. The first commercial buildings of the modern Canary Wharf, intended as a pressure valve for the City of London, opened in 1991. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was constructed to connect the growing Canary Wharf centre, along with the Jubilee Line extension in 1999 and more recently the Elizabeth Line. Its 97 acres contain 16 million sq ft of office and retail space. Originally used almost exclusively by financial services companies, the make-up of occupiers is now considerably more diverse and is continuing to evolve – as demonstrated by the recent announcement of the joint venture with life sciences developer Kadans to provide large scale research and development workspaces associated with this sector.

BATTERSEA POWER STATION

Battersea Power Station stopped generating electricity in 1983, and since then there have been numerous plans and proposals for it; a theme park was one of the more colourful suggestions, as was the proposal to make it the home of Chelsea FC. It was purchased by a consortium of Malaysian investors in 2012, who set about delivering one of London’s most significant regeneration projects. A key milestone for the development was when Apple committed to 500,000 sq ft of workspace in the power station itself, the expansion of the Northern Line to Battersea Power Station and the shopping centre opened in October 2022. It is projected that 25,000 people will be living and working here when the development is complete, along with a new office district with over 3 million sq ft of commercial space, creating one of London’s largest office, retail, leisure, and cultural quarters.

KING’S CROSS

Partnering with the GLA, Argent began work on transforming the previously rundown, King’s Cross area in 2007. There are now 67 acres of highly attractive mixed-use space across 50 new or restored buildings, providing 1,750 new homes, 10 new public parks and squares, 100 shops and restaurants, and workspace that is home to Meta, Universal Music, Google, Sony, and Nike, amongst many others. It has also been the catalyst for ‘The Knowledge Quarter’ which encourages knowledge sharing and collaborations between the world-leading academic, educational and creative institutions within its bounds. King’s Cross is a global triumph of large-scale urban regeneration as well as being a transport mega-hub with immediate access to local, regional, national, and international connections.

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MYCITY / LONDON |