Wood Wharf

Wood Wharf
Wood Wharf
	; Artist's impression of how the Wood Wharf development may look upon completion.
General information
Location	Canary Wharf
Website
	woodwharf.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Wood Wharf is a redevelopment project on the Isle of Dogs in the Docklands of London.

[edit] The site today

The 20 acres (81,000 m²) of Wood Wharf was historically used for the shipping and storage of timber and the repair of ships. This use continued throughout most of the 20th century until the late 1960s and 1970s, when the ship repair yard and dry dock ceased operation. Presently parts of it are occupied by low rise light industrial premises and the remainder is vacant or derelict. It belongs to British Waterways.

[edit] The plans

The master plan proposal is for a mixed use development. It would have 4,900,000 square feet (460,000 m²) of office space and around 1,500 homes, many of them affordable (i.e. social sector) family units. The office space would effectively be a seamless expansion of the Canary Wharf business district, albeit not officially part of the Canary Wharf estate.

The master plan was approved by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council in 2003. During 2004 British Waterways held a competition to select a development partner for the project. In 2005 a consortium of the Canary Wharf Group and Ballymore Properties were chosen as the preferred partner. In July 2005 the consortium began putting together its development team.

In November 2007, a new master plan was unveiled, by Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners. The official Wood Wharf website was updated. The new master plan shows considerably higher density, as well as more towers, which are also taller than the previous ones. The next step is to find different architects to design each individual building. The developers want at least one iconic residential, and one iconic office tower as part of the project.

The new master plan also contains a high street, which will run up the middle of the site. This will host bars, shops, cafés and restaurants. This will be covered by a glass snake-skin type roof. A planning application was filed on 30 June 2008. The Section 106 contribution of £150 million (£100 million towards the Crossrail project alone) is one of the largest ever made in London.^{[citation needed]} On 8 October 2008, Tower Hamlets Strategic Development Committee voted unanimously to grant approval for the application.

Canary Wharf Group, which is a 25% partner in Wood Wharf project, does not wish to proceed with the scheme until it has completed and let all of the office projects on and around the original Canary Wharf Estate, including Riverside South, North Quay, Heron Quays West, and 25 Bank Street. [1]