Southwark magazine #16

southwark

MOUNT ANVIL ARE PROUD TO BE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE HERITAGE OF LONDON TRUST TO RESTORE THE THOMAS GUY STATUE IN SOUTHWARK

Regeneration alliance Delivering 11,000 new council homes by 2043 takes solid relationships with effective partners

Choose life Residents’ choice of healthy options can begin to reduce pressure on health services

Stage play London’s theatreland moves south – academy, performance spaces and a new 900-seater

Back to our routes Transport infrastructure is changing in Southwark – getting around is easier by bike, train and tube

Learning curve The best ever results in Southwark schools – and one of the highest improving boroughs

southwark Issue 16 Winter 2016

At Mount Anvil we place great importance on the preservation of heritage and the cultural fabric of London. We are committed to improving the public realm and delivering homes and communities across London that ensure its legacy as a world-class city.

Discover more at mountanvil.com or call 020 7776 1800

‘‘

THE HERITAGE OF LONDON TRUST IS DELIGHTED THAT MOUNT ANVIL IS SUPPORTING THE RESTORATION OF THE THOMAS GUY STATUE. MONUMENTS LIKE THESE ARE PART OF LONDON’S FANTASTIC CULTURAL HERITAGE. MOUNT ANVIL IS A DEVELOPER WITH A REAL COMMITMENT TO MAKING LONDON A WORLD-CLASS CITY.

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— HERITAGE OF LONDON

Issue 16 Winter 2016

CHOICES: LEARN, ACT, ACHIEVE

Theatres of culture and science, world class research and treatment, where good educational attainment is no drama

Creating a new space in Southwark Discover Blackfriars Circus - consisting of 336 new homes all built around two new public squares and space for a range of shops and cafés.

The development will feature amenities including a concierge and roof-top garden for residents to enjoy, with views across the London skyline.

Situated in the heart of Southwark, residents are close to Borough Market and The Shard. Blackfriars Road is set to transform into a tree-lined boulevard, and this thriving new community in Zone 1 will help contribute to Southwark’s ambitious regeneration plans.

Arrange your viewing today.

STUDIOS, ONE, T WO AND THREE-BEDROOM A PA R T M E N T S A N D P E N T H OU S E S PRICES FROM £595,000

BL ACK F R I A R S CIRC US, BL ACK F R I A R S ROA D, SOU T H WA R K, LONDON SE1 8EQ VISIT BARR AT TLONDON.COM OR CALL 0203 285 6655

Images are for illustrative purposes only and may include optional upgrades at additional cost. Prices correct at time of print.

ELEPHANT & CASTLE

TOWN CENTRE REGENER ATION

ELEPHANT & CASTLE TOWN CENTRE Following extensive engagement with local stakeholders and Southwark Borough Council, a planning application which outlines proposals to create a new town centre for Elephant and Castle has been submitted.

The vision for the new town centre will build on the existing diversity of this vibrant zone one location and bring a cultural and commercial focal point to the heart of Elephant and Castle.

This will include: · An integrated campus for London College of Communication (part of University of the Arts London)

· 108,000 sq ft of accessible public space

· A 1,000 seat multi-screen cinema

· A new entrance and ticket-hall for the Northern Line

· A grass-roots music venue for an audience of 500 · The creation of 160,000 sq ft of shops and restaurants

· Improved access, with wider walkways

· 1,000 new homes for the rental market

The proposed masterplan is being delivered by Delancey, as development manager, and has been designed by architecture and urban planning practice Allies and Morrison.

southwark

contents 26 theatre Few cities anywhere could boast the opening of eight theatres within two years. But this is happening in a single London borough – Southwark, of course.

09 contacts For regeneration in Southwark.

12 news Updates on development projects and initiatives.

18 education How pupil places are expanding.

35 map and projects Southwark schemes summarised.

49 health Options for residents to choose healthy lifestyles, world-class treatment and research.

53 infrastructure New ways to get around, from bikes to tube trains.

58 sitematch Council invites partners for housebuilding on smaller sites.

44 regeneration in partnership How Southwark Council collaborates to deliver projects.

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Siobhán Crozier ASSISTANT EDITOR James Wood REPORTER Marco Cillario DESIGN Smallfury PRODUCTION MANAGER Christopher Hazeldine BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Paul Gussar BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Amanda Jenkins PROJECT MANAGER Sue Mapara SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Simon Maxwell MANAGING DIRECTOR Toby Fox PRINTED BY Tradewinds COVER IMAGE Tate Modern Switch House by Peter Durant IMAGES Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Berkeley Homes, Shakespeare’s Globe/Steve Tanner, Morley Von Sternberg, Lendlease, Sara Montali, Herzog and de Meuron, Tim Soar, Sharron Wallace, Southwark Council, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation, The Charter School, Theatre Delicatessen, Southwark Playhouse, Union Theatre, Theatre Peckham, Disney/Lucasfilm/Allstar, Spanish Theatre Company, Delancey, John Sturrock, Network Rail, Landolt + Brown Sunley House, Bedford Park, Croydon CR0 2AP PUBLISHED BY T 020 7978 6840 W 3foxinternational.com SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FEEDBACK southwarkmagazine.com southwarkmagazine.com

©3Fox International Limited 2016 All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of 3Fox International Ltd is strictly forbidden. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for omissions or errors.

The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of 3Fox International Ltd.

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16 winter 2016 7

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FORMER SOUTHWARK TOWN HALL AND THEATRE PECKHAM

BY ALUMNO DEMONSTRATES THAT PLACEMAKING BELONGS TO EVERYONE Alumno and their main contractor HG Construction have completed the radical and visionary redesign of the former Southwark Town Hall, now known as the Alumno Building. The images highlight how this approach to placemaking, drives a process through which we work together to shape our public spaces. The Alumno approach is rooted in community-based participation, and involves the planning, design, management and programming of shared use spaces. We have successfully delivered student housing and mixed use developments throughout the UK for the past 10 years and we have used this experience to fully realize the potential of the town hall building.

Alumno more than just designed the spaces, our placemaking strategy for the town hall brings together diverse people and organizations to improve a community’s cultural, economic and social offering. We have ensured that the key principles are adhered to; making the building visionary, adaptable, inclusive, creating a destination, and putting function before form.

The town hall aims to make a place and demonstrate that people of all ages, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds can not only access and enjoy a place, but also play a key role in its identity, creation and ongoing sustainability.

The Alumno Building opened in September and provides a new home for students studying at the world famous Goldsmiths, University of London and affordable artists studios managed

by SPACE studios. The building also provides a new, modern and state of the art children’s theatre for “Theatre Peckham”. This includes a fully functional auditorium and theatre space and new large rehearsal studios. Theatre Peckham will continue to provide and run courses and workshops which offer significant opportunities to local young people to engage with the creative arts from an early age.

Alumno Developments Ltd 2nd Floor, 10 Frith Street London W1D 3JF T. 020 7434 2384 www.alumnodevelopments.com

southwark TIME TO ACT In Southwark we feel very lucky and proud of our cultural history. The regeneration process is helping to build on this success with plans to open eight new theatres across the borough over the next two years, from the Bridge Theatre in the north to the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in the south. As well as the rich cultural benefits these new attractions will offer for our residents, hundreds of new jobs will be created and we can’t wait to meet the next John Boyega, the Southwark star of Star Wars.

Successful communities need high quality infrastructure and this edition focuses on three of the key pieces of the jigsaw: transport, education and health.

Southwark is fast becoming a 21st century transport hub, with the recent unveiling of the new London Bridge station concourse and real progress on our plans for the Bakerloo line extension – the new tube station at the Elephant and Castle and the new Thames bridge in Rotherhithe.

We focus on the dramatic improvement in educational attainment, with 12 new forms of primary entry being developed, along with two new secondary schools which are giving our residents the quality of education that allows them to progress to higher education and on to solid careers beyond.

Happiness is proven to be on the up in Southwark and a big part of this is linked to health. We look at our work on so many fronts to improve the health of our communities, from free access to our sports centres, to building new primary and secondary health facilities, and designing new almshouses for our older residents.

Regeneration provides the investment to make all of these fabulous new cultural and infrastructure projects happen, and none of this would be possible without the close partnership working on so many levels.

Councillor Peter John Leader of Southwark Council

CONTACT Dan Taylor / Chief Executive’s Department Southwark Council / 160 Tooley Street / SE1 2QH regeninfo@southwark.gov.uk / 02075255450 southwarkmagazine.com

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Working with the London Borough of Southwark to create an exciting mixed use development at Canada Water

Find out more at: www.canadawatermasterplan.com www.britishland.com www.surreyquays.co.uk

News

the news

WHAT’S NEW AND HAPPENING IN SOUTHWARK

MAYOR OPENS SKILLS CENTRE A new training centre for the construction industry was launched at the Elephant and Castle by mayor of London Sadiq Khan in September.

Southwark Construction Skills Centre opened on the £2 billion site of Elephant Park, which is expected to deliver almost 3,000 homes, more than 50 shops and restaurants and a new park by 2025.

Training up to 1,000 people each year, the skills centre is made up of seven modular buildings located at the entrance to the Elephant Park site. Along with classrooms, it includes a building workshop and an outdoor training yard.

It is the result of a partnership between Southwark Council and developer Lendlease and is available for use by all of the contractors and developers across Southwark.

“We know how important it is that we tackle the skills shortage in the construction industry,” said Khan.

“It was fantastic to meet London’s future homebuilders and I am now even more determined to push on with a pledge to lead a new skills agenda for London.”

Lendlease has already employed almost 500 Southwark residents on the Elephant Park scheme, and the project is expected to drive forward the economic development of the area, creating more than 6,000 jobs.

MULTIMILLION POUND GRANT FOR NHS An NHS foundation trust in Southwark is among the institutions set to benefit from a grant of more than £130 million to support research in mental and physical health.

The Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust will receive the grant from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to continue its study into new treatments for patients over the next five years.

The fund will allow the centre to build on the results recently achieved, such as a clinical trial to help in the fight against 12 issue 16 winter 2016

cancer, and research identifying for the first time that people with severe mental illness die 15 years prematurely compared to the general population.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This award supports our vision to embed research at the heart of the trust so that it becomes ‘business as usual’ and helps us to improve care for patients now and in the future.”

A £160 million cancer centre opened at Guy’s Hospital at the end of September.

For more information, see page 49.

News

Read up-to-date news stories about Southwark’s regeneration online at southwarkmagazine.com

FIRST STEP ON LOW LINE Seven railway arches in the heart of Bankside have been turned into a new food hub. Flat Iron Square, which also includes the Grade-II listed Devonshire House, launched in October, featuring food vendors, restaurants, street food trucks and bars, along with a live music and entertainment venue.

It is part of the Low Line project, being developed by Southwark Council in partnership with Network Rail and Bankside Neighbourhood Forum. The project aims to open up the pedestrian walkway that runs along the base of the rail viaduct in Bankside, so that people will be able to walk from Southwark to Waterloo across a range of new entertainment venues, bars, pubs and restaurants.

Flat Iron Square includes Mediterranean, Mexican and Asian restaurants, pizzerias, bakeries, vintage market Flea and gig venue Omeara.

ITALIAN FOOD FOR BOROUGH An Italian food market launched in Borough Triangle at Newington Causeway on 15 September. Mercato Metropolitano (below) opened its first UK site in a disused paper factory owned by housing association Peabody.

The 4,180sq m market, which launched its first sites in Milan and Turin in 2015, is conceived as a way for small producers, farmers and artisans to sell their products.

It hosts 30 Italian and British food retailers, an outdoor street food area, a cinema and a gym. A pop-up hotel and co-working space are scheduled to launch in the next few months.

A spokesperson for Mercato Metropolitano said 12,000 transactions and around 20,000 visitors had been recorded each week in the first month since the venue opened.

“The London site is a better version of our previous venues,” founder Andrea Rasca told Southwark magazine.

“In the previous ones we didn’t have a gym or the upcoming co-working space.”

Mercato Metropolitano will occupy the Borough Triangle site for two years, while housing association Peabody, which owns the site, designs the plans and seeks permission for a £3 billion regeneration scheme.

SOUTH DOCK MARINA PLANS UNVEILED Southwark Council presented new proposals for the redevelopment of the South Dock Marina at a public consultation in September.

The plan, updated since a previous consultation in January, would deliver 193 homes in five buildings of between three and seven storeys and a 28-floor tower.

St George’s Square would be extended to become a riverside urban park. A new restaurant, cafe and store would open on site.

Improvements are proposed for the Plough Way roundabout and the Thames footpath.

The marina would also be improved, with modernised facilities for berth holders, community space with a roof terrace and an enterprise hub.

The redevelopment would address the impact on residents of boatyard noise, dust and fumes.

The council is now assessing the feedback received, with a view to drafting a planning application in late 2016. southwarkmagazine.com

MAYOR SPEEDS UP BRIDGE PLANS Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has asked for the acceleration of plans to build a new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf.

As he outlined a programme to create a set of river crossings in east London in the next 10 years, Khan said at the beginning of October he wanted to speed up the delivery of the bridge in order to make it easier for people south of the river to access the East-West Cycle Superhighway. The new structure would also provide access from the north bank to the Thames Path and the planned new cycle routes throughout Southwark.

A competitive procurement process will be held next year and the new bridge could be open by 2020. issue

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News

SOUTHWARK BUILDINGS UP FOR AWARDS Two buildings in Southwark have been shortlisted for the Designs of the Year awards.

Switch House, the 10-storey extension of the Tate Modern, and community centre The Green in Nunhead were nominated in the architecture category of the awards recognising the best design in 2016.

The £260 million pyramid-like Switch House, opened in June, was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and increased the art gallery’s capacity by 60%, adding 2,000sq m of space.

On the top floor, a roof terrace offers a 360-degree panoramic view over London. A performance space at basement level, called The Tanks, is the world’s first museum gallery permanently dedicated to live art.

The other levels are occupied by the works of Picasso, Rothko and a range of other artists, along with a restaurant and space for workshops conferences, courses, film screenings and debates.

Designed by AOC architects, Nunhead’s The Green (top left) opened in January to host events and workshops. It provides acoustically separate spaces to accommodate different activities at the same time and a natural ventilation system to keep heating and air-conditioning costs low. It was built on a modest budget, with Southwark Council contributing £750,000, and the community was involved in the design process.

Other nominees for the accolade include OMA’s Fondazione Prada in Milan, Bjarke Ingels Group’s Via 57 West in New York, MAD Architects’ Opera House in Harbin, China, and Wayne Hemingway’s redesign of Margate’s Dreamland.

The winning project will be announced on 26 January 2017.

A third Southwark building is also nominated for an award. Canada Water Library is up for Best Project Five Years On at the London Planning Awards 2016/17. The library was designed by Piers Gough of CZWG and was the winner of a RIBA Regional Award in 2012 and has continued to collect gongs.

During the last full year that the old Rotherhithe library was open (2010) there were 80,895 visitors and 79,125 books issued. The new building, which opened in 2011, has transformed usage and there have been an average of 440,224 visitors with 353,570 books issued every year since.

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News

ALUMNO WELCOMES SOUTHWARK The former Southwark Town Hall in Camberwell was the venue for the launch of issue 15 of Southwark magazine on 12 September, with 120 guests in attendance.

Alumno Developments’ latest scheme delivers refurbishment of the 1930s building, which will be home to around 120 students.

Theatre Peckham was based at the rear of the town hall and will now gain a new, larger auditorium with dedicated rehearsal space.

The ground and lower ground floors feature 12 self-contained studios for artists.

Eleanor Kelly, chief executive of Southwark Council, said: “We’re gathered together for the 15th time for the latest edition of Southwark, the regeneration magazine, which is a window to the world for all the massive wave of regeneration and development that has been taking place over the last decade or so. The council is open to business and the things we do mean that regeneration in Southwark is a flagship for London boroughs.”

Councillor Mark Williams, cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, reiterated the message: “We welcome investment into Southwark, which brings benefits for our residents – new council homes, the biggest housebuilding programme in the country and expansion of all our schools. We’re using the benefits of investment – by working with Alumno, students are spending money in the local economy.”

Residents benefit from jobs – employment rates in Southwark have increased by 10% in just six years, according to council leader, Peter John: “We’ve been open for business since 2010, encouraging people to come and invest, to bring along apprenticeships and employment programmes. I’m incredibly proud of that statistic.”

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COUNCIL SEEKS AYLESBURY ESTATE JUDICIAL REVIEW Southwark Council will mount a legal challenge against the government’s plans to reject a Compulsory Purchase Order for eight properties in the first development site at the Aylesbury estate.

But the authority has first called on Sajid Javid MP, the secretary of state for communities and local government, to reconsider his decision – on the basis of an alleged error in the report.

This focuses on the assertion that Javid’s findings are based on a former leaseholder policy, which the council claims to have updated in December 2015. It is believed that this was not taken account of in the secretary of state’s decision.

Javid believes that the council has not done enough to acquire the land by agreement and that the order would breach the human rights of the leaseholders as they would not be able to afford to stay on the estate or live nearby – and be forced to move out of the area or to use their savings to buy a new property.

Councillor Peter John, council leader, said each of the residents had been offered “a brand new home in the same area, rentfree, and with a shared equity arrangement which protects the money they’ve saved and invested”. He added that Javid’s decision put Southwark and all councils which were trying to build new homes for their residents “between a rock and hard place”.

“We can either fight this decision or scrap our plans to regenerate the Aylesbury estate, leaving the hopes and dreams of thousands of local people in tatters. I’m not willing to do that, which is why we will take court action if necessary to try to overturn this bizarre decision.”

A partnership between the council and Notting Hill Housing, the £1.5 billion regeneration of the largest social housing estate in Europe would replace the 2,700 homes currently on site with 3,500 new properties, half of which would be allocated as affordable, across four phases.

Work on the first phase was expected to start this year and completion of the project was scheduled for 2032.

“In his report the secretary of state recognises that the scheme is viable, that it brings economic and social benefits to the area and that refurbishment is not an option,” John continued.

“Our plans offer the only way forward for the positive regeneration of an area of London that desperately needs it, and I’m determined that we will keep going to provide highquality, affordable homes for local people.

“I hope he will listen to reason but failing that, we will take this to court. We will also continue with our regeneration of other parts of the estate that are not affected by this decision,” he concluded. issue

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A MAJOR PARTNERSHIP FOR LENDLEASE AND SOUTHWARK

Our partnerships enhance our performance, spark innovation, sustain our communities and deliver lasting value. This has guided us to create successful partnerships based on trust and mutual understanding.

At Elephant Park, Lendlease is proud to be Southwark Council’s regeneration partner as we re-establish Elephant & Castle’s status as a desirable and successful Central London destination.

Together at Elephant Park, over the next 10 years we are delivering:

11 acres 3000 of high quality public space

new tenureblind homes

6000 1 of 19 £125,000 40+

new jobs plus Construction Skills Centre

Climate Positive developments worldwide

contributed to Elephant & Castle Community Fund

temporary business spaces at Artworks Elephant

For more info visit:

elephantpark.co.uk

“LENDLEASE HAS PROVEN ITSELF TO BE A KEY PARTNER OF THE COUNCIL, WITH THE CAPABILITY AND SKILL SET TO DRIVE THE PROJECT FORWARD AND DELIVER OUR SHARED VISION.” Eleanor Kelly, Chief Executive, Southwark Council

Education

LEARNING SPACE

Educational standards in Southwark have risen sharply, moving on from a difficult history to surpass national levels of attainment. As success creates greater demand for school places, Lucy Clarke finds out how Southwark Council and local schools are meeting the challenge

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Education

ABOVE: Pupils of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation, which is building a new school in Southwark.

SOUTHWARK PUPILS ARE THRIVING and have raised standards to unprecedented heights, placing the borough above national levels of performance and creating more educational demand in the area than ever before.

Despite falling nationally between 2011 and 2015, achievement has increased in the borough by 6.5%, prompting a multimillion pound investment to expand existing schools and build new ones.

Southwark is one of the most improved and highsouthwarkmagazine.com

performing London boroughs at secondary level. The Charter School, in East Dulwich, received government approval in 2015 and opened its doors to students at a temporary site in September this year. But by September 2018, the secondary will move to a new home – eventually doubling its intake to make room for the influx of young learners.

And with birth rates increasing by 12% between 2002

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Education

ABOVE AND OPPOSITE: Going up – pupils in Southwark have plenty to celebrate with standards rising and new schools being built, creating greater opportunities for high quality education across all age groups and types of school. The students pictured are from The Charter School, which opened in a temporary space in 2016 and will move to its permanent base in 2018.

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and 2014, authorities have no choice but to respond to the growing number of primary school applications submitted by eager parents.

Southwark’s £160 million investment, funded mainly by the government’s Education Funding Agency (EFA), council capital and school contributions, means a batch of new-build, extensions and refurbishment projects are firmly under way.

But the borough has not always enjoyed a highperforming education system and outstanding statistics.

Southwark’s local education authority (LEA) came into being in 1990 after the Thatcher government broke up the old Inner London Education Authority (ILEA).

For wealthy boroughs such as Kensington & Chelsea, the end of ILEA was welcomed – along with Wandsworth and Westminster, it was planning to opt out. But for boroughs such as Hackney and Southwark, its demise was a double blow – they always faced the greatest educational challenges, and now, as stand-alone LEAs without the pooled expertise present in ILEA, they had the least resources with which to solve them.

The statistics that followed in Southwark were damning: 20% of six-year-olds failed to attain even the baseline assessment in writing and in 1999, 15 schools were in special measures. In 2002, the results for 11-yearolds were the worst in the country and educational achievement was 12% below the national average.

The LEA has steadily recovered from a disastrous period when in 2000, it was shut down and outsourced to an engineering consultancy, an arrangement that was able to survive for only three years of a five-year contract.

Now, in 2016, over 93% of Southwark’s schools are judged by Ofsted to be good or better.

“The council has been extremely proactive, resulting in year-on-year improvements of pupil outcomes,” Councillor Victoria Mills, Southwark Council’s cabinet member for children and schools, says. “Investment in children’s centres and supporting children and their families has

been the cornerstone in improving outcomes for young children with opportunities to access high quality services.

Southwark is unique in that it has a strong and talented team of dedicated school improvement advisers who know the schools and education well.”

Due to development around the Rotherhithe peninsula, as part of the Canada Water development, and along the Old Kent Road, as part of the Bakerloo line extension, the council expects an influx of young families. While there is currently a “cushion” of 180 reception places available in primary schools across the borough, this figure is predicted to decrease year on year until 2022, when, if nothing is done, the council predicts there will be no places left.

But the authority has a duty under the Education Act 1996 to “secure that sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary education are available” as well as to “secure diversity and increase opportunities for parental choice when planning the provision of school places.” And with two rebuilds, eight expansions and two new free schools either under way or planned for the next two years, the council is on track to deliver.

Using projections from the Greater London Authority, a primary investment strategy devised in 2013 (and amended in 2014 and 2015) noted the forecast future demand for primary places. Statistics from current school rolls, birth rates, migration, ambitious new housing developments and the increasing population, enabled a plan to be drawn up to ensure enough room is made.

As part of the plan, a portion of the £160 million investment is being channelled into two new primary school rebuilds at Albion and Bellenden, eight primary school expansions at Ivydale, Grange, Crawford, Keyworth, Phoenix, Robert Browning, Charles Dickens and Redriff, and finally, two new free schools; Belham and Galleywall.

All of these projects are under way and on schedule to deliver the additional capacity needed.

An additional 1,755 primary places have already been

Education

IN 2016, OVER 93% OF SOUTHWARK’S SCHOOLS ARE JUDGED BY OFSTED TO BE GOOD OR BETTER

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Education

THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation will open the Borough Academy in Southwark Bridge Road, on the site of a former fire station.

22 issue 16 winter 2016

established this year as a result of planned expansions.

Improvements in Southwark secondary schools are delivering excellent results. In 2015, 64.5% of pupils gained five or more GCSEs including English and mathematics, placing the borough above national levels of performance overall. Southwark’s performance in English and maths is 7.5 % and 8.5% above the national average, and although performance from 2011 to 2015 has fallen nationally by 1.1%, it has increased by 6.5% in Southwark, placing the authority 7.4% above the national average.

The council has predicted that although Southwark schools were able to meet the demand for year 7 places in 2016, there will be a shortage of places in September 2017, rising steeply in the years to follow.

“Our initial intake of students was more than five times oversubscribed –and that was at a point when we did not yet have a temporary school site or any teachers other than myself,” says Alex Crossman, The Charter School’s head teacher. “Every indication suggests that we will have at least as strong a response this year. It is clear to me that the appetite is extremely high for excellent secondary education in our part of the borough; an indication of the highly aspirational population that we have the privilege to serve.”

In February 2016, the government announced that the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation’s application to open a new secondary school in the old fire station site, on Southwark Bridge Road, had been accepted. Once open, the academy will admit 180 children a year, growing year on year and eventually opening a sixth form with 250 spots to complete the 1,150-place school. The academy will be supported by the federation’s other schools, principally Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College, in New Cross.

“The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation has a proud history of providing excellent secondary education to children of south east London and we are excited to be

IN 2015, 64.5% GAINED FIVE OR MORE GCSES INCLUDING ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS, PLACING THE BOROUGH ABOVE NATIONAL LEVELS

Education

able open a new school in Southwark,” Adrian Percival, chief executive of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation, says.

“We embarked on this project in response to a campaign by local parents and we look forward to continuing to work with them and the local council to develop a first rate school for the community.”

In July this year, a survey was submitted to the Department for Education, outlining the continuing demand for primary and secondary school places in Southwark. The result informs the government where there are pressures on school places and where significant shortfalls are anticipated by local authorities.

Southwark Council’s director of education Nina Dohel says the wheels are always in motion and she is proud of the vast range of choices available to parents.

“In the last five to six years outcomes for pupils in the borough have continued to rise and have been in line with or above national averages. Now, 93% of our schools are graded as good or outstanding,” Dohel says.

“There are great and growing choices for our children and families in terms of the schools they might go to, and we are proud of the fact that in Southwark we have a good mixture of local authority maintained schools, academy

southwarkmagazine.com

schools, free schools and faith schools – including choices for girls and boys, or mixed schools. From the earliest age we have increased our preschool and nursery provision for working parents and low-income families.”

Mills adds: “Our provision for children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities is outstanding and another area in which we are expanding the range of choice and places.”

Expansion is a priority for schools in Southwark because of a growing population, but those who work within the education sector also note how current pupils will benefit from new and extra space to learn. Teachers are frequently expected to assess changing ideas on what kind of environment pupils require, as well as the need to cater for more pupils than ever before. These demands mean changing, adapting and increasing facilities.

“Space is also critically linked to strategies for learning and teaching,” Crossman says. “Smaller classes mean each student receives more attention from their teacher, which is better for building the relationships that underpin learning. That, in turn, means students are likely to feel more supported, enjoy their lessons more and, not coincidentally, do better in them.

“This is not even to address the question of outdoor space. Even in the midst of winter, it is easy to think of the many benefits of having more space outdoors in which children can play when the sun is a little brighter and the days a little warmer.”

The Charter School celebrated its official opening ceremony in October 2016, an event officials say is a positive sign of what is to come.

“The council has committed millions of pounds to new and refurbished school buildings across all categories of schools, from early years through to secondary education and further education,” says Mills.

“This includes academies, free schools as well as local authority maintained schools. This co-ordinated, strategic commitment by all has resulted in Southwark schools to be judged the very best, not only in London but also across England.” issue

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BIG DRAMA London’s new theatreland is being established in Southwark, with eight theatres to open in the next two years. Companies are moving to larger premises, a renowned theatre school is relocating from north London – and a 900-seat theatre will be built at One Tower Bridge. James Wood treads the boards

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MEASURE FOR MEASURE SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, outgoing US president Barack Obama visited Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in Southwark on his last official visit to the UK as commander-in-chief. He was treated to a personal performance of a scene from Hamlet, during a rare respite from the political unrest of 2016 in a show of respect to a figure with an infinite literary legacy.

Hordes of tourists have visited the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe since it opened in 1997, a few hundred feet from where it was first built in 1599. The venue is used for a variety of activities. Students and academics take part in workshops and attend lectures and hundreds of thousands of people watch plays every year in a setting that aims to replicate the experience of watching Shakespeare’s plays in his own time.

The project to rebuild the Globe was instigated by American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, who commissioned extensive research and archaeological excavations to determine what the original theatre would have looked like. Wanamaker died before the project was complete, but the resulting thatched roof and timber frames of the finished building are said by historians to be as faithful a reconstruction imaginable.

Shakespeare is performed almost daily at the Globe. Last year, 10 plays were nominated for Olivier awards, 89% of productions were at full capacity and 356,000 tickets were sold.

The opening of the indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the beginning of 2014, allowing plays to be shown all year round, has helped achieve these statistics.

Based in the Bankside Cultural Quarter, the venue continues to not only have a significant impact on tourism in the surrounding area and London as a whole but it is a source of great inspiration for those aspiring to work in the theatre.

Engagement with young people worldwide is the Globe’s ambition and in 2015, it established centres for teaching Shakespeare in China and the USA. As creative accolades also continue to be won at respected theatres nearby such as the National, the Young Vic and the Old Vic, new initiatives in the borough are developing at a fast pace. With established theatres moving to bigger premises, new venues being created and hundreds of students set to move to new educational facilities, Southwark is fast becoming London’s new theatre heartland. southwarkmagazine.com

OPPOSITE: Nandi Bhebhe as First Fairy with cabaret performer Meow Meow as a sleeping Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2016.

SANDS FILMS It’s not all about theatre – independent production company, Sands Films, also operates from an 18th century warehouse in Rotherhithe. It was founded by Richard Goodwin and director Christine Edzard in the early 1970s.

The site features studios, a screening theatre, a set construction workshop and is well-known in the industry as a costumier for period productions.

Notable productions for which Sands Films has provided costumes include Death on the Nile, Vanity Fair, The Phantom of the Opera and Pride and Prejudice.

The local community benefits from Sands’ own cinema club, which aims to screen the best of world cinema, all for the cost of a voluntary donation.

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16 winter 2016 27

theatre TWO GENTLEMEN OF …

LONDON THEATRE COMPANY Having established The London Theatre Company in 2015, those behind it – the former National Theatre directors, Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr – marked the occasion with plans to build a 900-seat riverside theatre, The Bridge, as part of Southwark’s One Tower Bridge development.

It will be the flagship venue for Hytner and Starr’s independent production company and will be the first of its scale to be built in London for 40 years.

Berkeley Group and Southwark Council had been looking for a cultural organisation to occupy an empty space in the development – the scheme will also feature restaurants, cafes and shops. Originally the idea was to let it to the Royal Opera House during the renovation of its Covent Garden home, but this was abandoned in favour of the permanent theatre in August 2015.

Hytner and Starr were at the helm at The National Theatre for 12 years, achieving considerable commercial success. They oversaw the venue’s income rise from £22.9 million in 2003 to £69.6 million 10 years later, boosted by productions such as The History Boys, The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time, and One Man, Two Guvnors, which were later performed at the West End and then Broadway.

According to Hytner and Starr, “the time was right” to build a new theatre in an already popular cultural location, which will become the only commercial theatre outside the West End. They point out that despite numerous Victorian and Edwardian theatres, relatively few new facilities of this scale have been built in London in the last hundred years.

Steve Tompkins and Roger Watt of Haworth Tompkins, the pair behind the Everyman and Royal Court theatres in Liverpool, have designed the auditorium for the theatre, which is expected to open in 2017, subject to planning permission.

Harry Lewis, managing director at Berkeley Homes (South East London), says the theatre “will deliver on the world-class cultural facility envisioned by Southwark Council for One Tower Bridge”.

“It will have a strong beneficial impact on Southwark, creating a new cultural riverside quarter and bringing increased footfall, growth and jobs,” he continues.

“An institution of this calibre will strengthen the area as a theatre district, consolidating Southwark’s status as a major cultural destination. Together with new restaurants, cafes and shops, we can create the Covent Garden of the South Bank.”

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THEY CALL FOR DATES AND QUINCES …

THEATRE DELICATESSEN Established in 2009, Theatre Delicatessen works with commercial property owners to make use of empty buildings up and down the country, creating pop-up performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, offices, studios and workshops, which open opportunities for involvement in the arts to an increasingly wide variety of people.

The search for a more permanent base led to the discovery of a derelict library site (above) in Burgess Park in summer 2016, which according to Roland Smith, the theatre’s co-artistic director, “was in-line with the calibre of development we were looking for”. Theatre Delicatessen has since taken a two-year lease on The Passmore Edwards Library building at the park.

“It was perfect for what we needed,” says Smith. “We saw a great opportunity to use the library and its surroundings to turn the site into an immersive theatre and arts hub where anyone can participate. We’re doing this in

ways such as improv comedy sessions and creating an arts cafe at the site where openmic nights will take place. We want this to be as much a space for the local community as it is for practising artists.”

These ambitions are being fulfilled since the August move to the site. Unusual classes such as circus skills training have been established and Theatre Delicatessen also offers artist residencies.

One of the first art groups to take space was Collectif And Then, winners of the 2016 Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, who staged an interactive show called The Machine as part of The Barbican’s Open Season in London this autumn.

Arts Council England has now pledged £15,000 to the group for its ‘Performers in the Park’ programme. Meeting on Sunday afternoons, three age groups will work alongside each other to develop their performance skills in different areas.

FAR LEFT: Students on musical theatre BA courses at Mountview Academy in a recent production of Jane Eyre.

LEFT: Mountview Academy turns its hand to Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

BELOW: Open spaces will encourage collaboration between students at Mountview Academy.

YOUTH IS FULL OF PLEASURE MOUNTVIEW ACADEMY OF THEATRE ARTS The principal and artistic director of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Stephen Jameson, is “over the moon”. It is late September 2016 and the drama school has received planning permission to move to its new multimillion-pound base next to Peckham Library – an area that he describes as “the most culturally exciting in London”.

Those enrolled on courses and in their first year of study in Wood Green, north London – where Mountview has been for 30 years – will be among the first to use the facility when the move takes place in September 2018.

Its new base will feature a 200-seat performance space and an 80-seat studio, alongside 22 teaching studios, music practice southwarkmagazine.com

rooms, two TV studios and a radio suite.

Building work is due to start in 2017 with only “stage four” planning permission – approval for the finer details – left to be confirmed.

For Jameson, having the ability to teach all lessons from one facility will be a game changer. Around 400 students are enrolled on diploma courses as well as BAs in television, theatre and film acting. As well as benefiting from the academy teaching staff ’s close monitoring, students will be able to build links with agents and casting directors and engage with an array of theatre and film professionals – such as set designers, lighting and sound technicians, choreographers, musical directors, actors and stage managers.

Jameson says: “It will be a fantastic environment for students, allowing them to work alongside professionals. I think that makes us really unique and among the finest conservatoires of our kind in the country.”

Classes will also be open to residents in Peckham and the surrounding area once the move is complete. Mountview will involve students from schools in the area with workshops and classes and facilitate opportunities for local people, something Jameson says is central to the ethos that Mountview will bring to Peckham.

Above all, says Jameson: “We need a new home. This is the right time and Peckham is the right place.” issue

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theatre

REHEARSE YOUR PARTS SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE A permanent base for Southwark Playhouse – one of the borough’s most established and respected theatres – has been sought since it was formed in 1993.

Current artistic director, Chris Smyrnios, explains: “We have spent much of the last 23 years trying to find a secure home. Owing to rising rents, it has been hard to stay in one place for any length of time. We are currently housed in our third ‘temporary’ venue on Newington Causeway.”

In 2016, the company was offered the opportunity to take on two venues – one at the Elephant and Castle on a 125-year lease and the other under the arches of London Bridge on a shorter-term lease.

“Despite having been nomadic over the years we have still managed to grow significantly as an organisation,” Smyrnios 30 issue 16 winter 2016

says. “The opportunity to expand to two venues is a natural progression.”

The sleek concrete and steel of the Elephant and Castle development will offer a purpose-built, 300-seat theatre showing the large-scale productions for which the Playhouse has made its name.

“Those subterranean arches will offer the same inspirational performance spaces as our previous venue, but this time without the mould and leaks,” enthuses Smyrnios.

The upcoming move means the Southwark Playhouse can plan for the future, continuing to develop its artistic programmes. As with many theatres in Southwark, community engagement is a key part of its offer and it has been providing curriculum support to schools in the area throughout its existence.

In 2016, its annual Shakespeare for Schools

programme will offer 1,500 tickets for local schools to see The Tempest free of charge.

Three companies operate at the Playhouse – Young Company, People’s Company and Elder’s Company. Performances currently running include the musical Side Show – a true story about conjoined twins – and the world premiere of Orca by Matt Grinter, who was the winner of the Papatango new writing prize. Upcoming projects include Licensed to Ill, a musical biopic about The Beastie Boys.

The wait to find permanent premises may have been long but Smyrnios is proud to be part of the borough’s cultural scene: “Southwark has a very varied, vibrant and vocal community who care about what goes on and why,” he says. “It’s a privilege to be part of that and I really hope it is not lost as the area is redeveloped.”

TALK OF DREAMS UNION THEATRE After 18 years in a space that was formerly a paper warehouse in one of the arches next to Southwark station, Union Theatre has settled into two refurbished arches, directly opposite its first home.

Prior to this, when Network Rail announced plans to redevelop the arches, more than 10,000 people signed a petition in a bid to save the theatre from the threat of closure.

Sasha Regan, the theatre’s director, is happy that the Union is staying at the site and pleased with the new premises: “We have been here for about three months now and it is starting to feel like home.

“I love the industrial feel of the new site – it’s all brick, glass, wood and metal – and yet it still feels very welcoming. Our old customers were worried that we would lose the character of the theatre during the relocation but I don’t think that we have.”

At the new home for the theatre, there is

also a restaurant, rehearsal room, and some offices to let. Enhanced facilities include tiered seats and an increased seating capacity. A youth theatre has also been set up, something Regan says she is “hugely proud of ”. Many local children take part and evening classes are popular too.

Over the years, the Union Theatre has gained a reputation for staging musicals.

Current shows include Moby Dick and a comedy called Rumpy Pumpy. In November and December, Soho Cinders will take centre stage – a modern musical adaptation of the Cinderella story.

Regan is proud to be in Southwark: “I have always loved this area,” she says. “You can walk through the area and stumble on so many fantastic little treasures. The more theatres in Southwark; the stronger the attraction for visitors. Independent business is thriving here – let’s just hope we can all afford to remain.”

ABOVE: Musical productions at the theatre have included Moby Dick (top) and Out There (below).

LEFT: Relaxing with a coffee outside the theatre’s newly refurbished arches.

BELOW: Moby Dick ran from September to November.

southwarkmagazine.com

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theatre

FLAMING YOUTH THEATRE PECKHAM Theatre Peckham has existed for 30 years and has just moved to upgraded premises in Alumno’s Southwark Town Hall redevelopment scheme, thanks to £2.5 million of funding from Southwark Council and a £800,000 capital grant from Arts Council England to fit it out. It will eventually feature a 200-seat theatre, two studio spaces and offices.

The theatre’s purpose is harnessing the talents of young people to help them develop.

Between 400 and 500 children attend each week to study acting, dancing and singing.

Vocational courses include performing arts BTECs and Trinity Speech and Drama exams for people aged up to 25.

Theresa Early, who lives in Peckham, has been the artistic director of the project since the beginning and says her motivation remains as strong today as it was in 1986.

“For me it’s a constant pleasure to see the transformative effect on people who might come from working class or deprived backgrounds – young people who are not necessarily sure of themselves or who they are to begin with.

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“An awful lot of people in the past have come into the theatre with an attitude of ‘I’m from Peckham, I’ll never get anywhere’, but they’ve gone on to achieve wonderful things.

We’re all about harnessing young people’s creativity and showing them what they can do and who they can be.”

The majority of the theatre’s members come from Peckham and Camberwell and the remainder from other places in Southwark.

Theatre Peckham takes pride in staying in touch with alumni who go on to build significant professional profiles.

Examples include the playwright Anya Reiss and actor John Boyega, the latter of whom is now one of its patrons. Between the ages of nine and 14, Boyega would spend most of his time at Theatre Peckham and it was this that led to him pursuing a fruitful acting career. Now aged 24, he has had leading roles in blockbuster films such as Half of a Yellow Sun and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, playing a rebellious stormtrooper in the latter.

Born and bred in Peckham to Nigerian parents, he was noticed by Early at a young age and it was his time spent at the theatre

that sowed the seeds of his future success.

Those who would otherwise have limited opportunities to progress in the industry have been benefiting from the theatre for three decades. Research shows that those who work in the creative industries are disproportionately from privileged backgrounds and Theatre Peckham has successfully challenged this.

The Department for Culture, Media and Creative Industries released a report in June 2015, which showed that in the UK, 91.9% working in such jobs were from the most advantaged group. Analysis by Theatre Peckham shows that 66% of its students went onto university or drama school between 1999 and 2010 and 26% of its alumni are currently employed within the creative industries.

Cultural diversity in Peckham is celebrated at the theatre too – its research indicates that 63% of its members are from BAME backgrounds compared with between 12 and 13% of the population nationally.

Last year, nearly 6,000 young people and adults attended a performance – 26% of members receive a concession on tickets.

OPPOSITE: Attending Theatre Peckham has led to successful acting careers for those such as John Boyega (bottom, as a child (left) and in Star Wars (right)).

BELOW: The Spanish Theatre Company encourages participation, both from native speakers and those learning about the language and culture.

WHEN HE WAS IN SPAIN …

SPANISH THEATRE COMPANY Southwark has a proud diversity and this is demonstrated by the popularity of The Spanish Theatre Company, which is to establish the Cervantes Theatre London at the Union Yard arches in November 2016.

Following the move, its first show will be Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca, about two families preparing for a wedding.

Plays shown at the theatre have also attracted great interest from British audiences, with three performances of a play in Spanish and five in English every week.

The company was founded in 2014 and is the only one of its kind in London. It operates as a charity, aiming to not only create strong bonds for the Spanish and Latin American communities in London but to serve as an opportunity for others to find out more about the history of theatre in the country.

Associate director Paula Paz says: “We have a whole range of plays from the golden age of Spanish theatre to modern contemporary productions.

“Schools often approach us too, with students who are learning Spanish always keen to attend performances at the theatre to advance their language skills.”

Paz is also keen to engage with other organisations at the site, including the Union Theatre (page 31). She says: “We are very excited to belong to the Union Yard. We really believe that this is fast becoming a new cultural landmark. Southwark is the perfect place to open the Cervantes Theatre – we will be surrounded by so many iconic venues.

“We are also very pleased to have the Union Theatre as our neighbour and we can’t wait to open in November.”

The fact that a theatre organisation with such a niche offering can grow and develop shows how Southwark’s ambition to become the capital’s theatre heartland will surely soon be achieved. southwarkmagazine.com

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100 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5NQ Reception: 020 7004 1700 Fax: 020 7004 1790 Website: www.dp9.co.uk

Projects

projects Investments in Canada Water, Elephant and Castle, a new station concourse for London Bridge, and world-class treatment and research at Guy’s Cancer Centre

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Rotherhithe

Borough

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Bermondsey

Elephant and Castle

1b

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1. ELEPHANT AND CASTLE

4. PECKHAM

1a. Elephant and Castle town centre 1b. Crossway Christian Centre 1c. Skipton House

2. CANADA WATER

4a. Peckham Rye Station Square 4b. Peckham Library Square 4c. Peckham Palms 4d. Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts 4e. Peckham Levels

3. LONDON BRIDGE

5. OLD KENT ROAD

3a. London Bridge Station 3b. Guy’s Cancer Centre

New Cross Gate

Peckham 4e 4a

Queens Road

4c

Peckham Rye

1. ELEPHANT AND CASTLE

4. PECKHAM

Featured project

1a. Elephant and Castle town centre 1b. Crossway Christian Centre 1c. Skipton House

Rail / underground / overground station

2. CANADA WATER

4a. Peckham Rye Station Square 4b. Peckham Library Square 4c. Peckham Palms 4d. Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts 4e. Peckham Levels

3. LONDON BRIDGE

5. OLD KENT ROAD

3a. London Bridge Station 3b. Guy’s Cancer Centre southwarkmagazine.com

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16 winter 2016 35

PROUD TO BE INVESTING IN SOUTHWARK A SELECTION OF OUR CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

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We have selected the London Borough of Southwark for two forthcoming high quality developments.

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www.londonsquare.co.uk Computer generated images depict London Square Streatham Hill, London Square Bermondsey, London Square Canada Water, London Square Caledonian Road, London Square Bassetts House and The Star and Garter and are indicative only.

Enhanced photography depicts landscaped garden square at London Square Teddington and London Square Hayes, BR2 and are indicative only. Details are correct at time of going to press – June 2016.

Projects

ELEPHANT AND CASTLE

ELEPHANT AND CASTLE TOWN CENTRE The first phase of Delancey’s Elephant and Castle town centre redevelopment is approaching completion, while a planning application for the following two is to be submitted.

In September 2016, the first students were welcomed to Portchester House on New Kent Road, in the 272 units provided as part of phase one. Development on the Elephant Road site, providing 374 homes, is expected to complete over the coming months.

The masterplan for the following two phases was revealed in May 2016. Phase two, the east site, will focus on the site currently occupied by the Elephant and Castle shopping centre. In phase three the west site will be developed, where the London College of Communication (LCC) is now located.

Plans involve the construction of a state-of-the art–retail destination, 1,000 homes, an integrated campus for LCC, a 1,000-seat multi-screen cinema, a music venue for an audience of 500 and 10,000sq m of public space surrounded by shops, bars, cafes and restaurants.

A new entrance and ticket hall for the Northern line will also be integrated into the project. The headquarters for the University of the Arts London will be built, with around 5,000sq m of workspace and 12 innovation units for startup businesses.

During a public consultation on the plans in May, hundreds of people gave their feedback on the design, and the developer said 83.4% supported the project.

A planning application is now being prepared for submission to Southwark Council.

The scheme will be developed by Delancey’s client fund DV4 and pension fund asset manager APG. southwarkmagazine.com

CROSSWAY CHRISTIAN CENTRE A 692sq m, two-storey development on Hampton Street, the Crossway Christian Centre will host the United Reform Church, which is relocating from Elephant Park redevelopment site.

The new building will host eight different congregations, three day centres and will be used as a community facility by a number of community interest groups and projects.

Work on the site, by builder Osborne and architect Van Hennigan Hayward, started in December 2015.

The project has involved demolition of The Castle Day Centre building and 26 garages.

Work is now approaching completion, with the first service expected to take place on Christmas Eve and the congregations will move into the building during the first week of January 2017.

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Projects

SKIPTON HOUSE The Skipton House scheme at the Elephant and Castle was given the green light by Southwark Council in July.

The project includes 421 homes, with 48,892sq m of office space, 1,533sq m for retail units, a 350-seat performance arts venue and a gym.

Plans involve the demolition of Perry Library, Keyworth Street Hostel and an office block on site, followed by the construction of three buildings ranging from eight to 39 storeys.

The tallest building, on the junction of Ontario Street with Keyworth Street, will include the performance venue at ground level, with offices on floors one to seven

CANADA WATER

CANADA WATER MASTERPLAN Developer British Land is working on plans for a new urban centre for Canada Water on an 18.6-ha site including the Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, Surrey Quays Leisure Park and the SE16 Printworks.

The developer says the site has the potential to deliver more than 650,000sq m of mixed-use space, including up to 3,500 new homes and around 186,000sq m of employment space.

The draft masterplan was the subject of a series of public consultation events 38 issue 16 winter 2016

in February 2016, attended by more than 2,200 people. Around 4,000 comments were submitted, more than half (56%) of which reacting positively to the prospect of living, shopping and working in the area, 22% saying they were undecided and needed more information, another 22% expressing concerns for the buildings height and the impact on transport.

British Land is considering the feedback received and reviewing the proposals. Further consultation events will take place in 2017.

and residential units on the upper floors.

A 12-storey adjoining block will contain a gym on the ground floor and offices on the upper floors.

The third building, along Newington Causeway, will be 15 storeys high on the southern end and 28 on the northern end, including retail space on the ground floor, offices and homes on the upper floors, along with a public garden on the 15th floor, accessible through a lift from Skipton Gardens.

London and Regional Properties will develop the project, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill, along with designer Arup and engineers Norman Disney and Young.

Projects

LONDON BRIDGE LONDON BRIDGE STATION Around two thirds of the new London Bridge station concourse opened to passengers at the end of August.

The hoardings came down on the rebuilt platforms 7-15 after more than three years of work. New stairs and escalators now link platforms to the concourse below and there are new routes into and out of the station.

When complete, the concourse, with access from Tooley Street and St Thomas Street, will be bigger than the pitch at Wembley Stadium.

All platforms will be accessible from one place and people who live and work to the south of the station will have easier access to the north

and the River Thames. The space will be lined by 6,500sq m of retail units and filled with natural light.

Plans were designed by architects Grimshaw and lodged by Network Rail.

Southwark Council gave the go-ahead in autumn 2011 and work at the station platforms began in spring 2013.

The London Bridge station redevelopment is due for completion in spring 2018.

It is part of the Thameslink Programme, which will improve north-south travels through London, with new, larger trains every two to three minutes at peak times.

GUY’S CANCER CENTRE The £160 million, 14-storey Guy’s Cancer Centre opened its doors at Great Maze Pond in autumn 2016. It brings together under one roof cancer treatment previously provided in 13 different locations at the St Thomas’ and Guy’s hospitals.

It is the first cancer centre in Europe to provide radiotherapy treatment above ground level, after patients said this would make a huge difference to them, giving them more access to natural light.

The building is made up of ‘villages’, each relating to a specific patient need and containing all the equipment required for a certain type of care. These include a welcome village at the main entrance, a radiotherapy village, a chemotherapy village and an outpatients village.

It also brings together treatment and research in an ‘innovation hub’, located on the top floor, “so that potentially impactful discoveries can be advanced rapidly and successful approaches for one cancer type can be tested quickly in others”, said Professor Peter Parker, head of the division of cancer studies at King’s College.

The scheme was funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, a £25 million grant from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and a £15 million grant from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund. More than £7 million was donated or fund-raised by patients and philanthropists.

The centre was designed by architect Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and specialist healthcare architect Stantec, with Arup providing integrated design engineering services. A number of artworks were included in the design following research evidence that links positive health outcomes with creative experiences. Alastair Gourlay, project director of cancer centre and asset management director, Essentia at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said that his vision for the centre was “a hospital that doesn’t feel like a hospital”.

Work started in 2013 with the demolition of a building on the site.

Contractor Laing O’Rourke started constructing the new structure the following year.

The southern end of Great Maze Pond was redesigned and provided with wider pedestrian areas, trees, benches and bicycle parking.

A sculpture by artist Daniel Silver was placed at the entrance to the centre to commemorate a Roman boat buried beneath the foundations of the building. southwarkmagazine.com

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Projects

PECKHAM

PECKHAM RYE STATION SQUARE Plans for the creation of a new public square

by Peckham Rye Station were approved in March 2016.

Southwark Council is working in partnership with the Greater London Authority, Network Rail and Southern Railways on the Gateway Project, first mooted in 2012 to regenerate the station and its surroundings.

The council has committed £10 million of funding for the plans and has secured £5.25 million from the mayor of London’s Regeneration Fund.

Improvements to the Grade-II listed station building were carried out, new

passenger waiting areas provided and a new cycle hub built.

At the beginning of 2015 the council appointed architects Landolt + Brown to develop proposals for a new square, which will be created between the station and Rye Lane, through the demolition of the arcade buildings currently located between the north and south railway viaducts.

The railway arches facing onto the square will be refurbished and the building at 2-10 Blenheim Grove provided with a two-storey extension to include retail and office space, a restaurant, a cafe and a food takeaway.

Work on the new square will start in 2017.

PECKHAM LIBRARY SQUARE A planning application for a new square, shopping area and 19 homes in front of Peckham Library has been submitted to Southwark Council.

Proposals involve the removal of Peckham Arch and the construction of two new buildings of four and six storeys facing Peckham High Street, with a landscaped public space in between.

One of the buildings will host 255sq m of gallery space on the ground floor and homes on the upper floors. The other will contain 201sq m of co-working space and 82sq m of office space on the ground floor and new homes on the other floors. The council has 40 issue 16 winter 2016

said over 35% of the new homes would be allocated as affordable.

Councillor Mark Williams, cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, said: “We know there are strong feelings about the arch, which has been a landmark for the town for many years. When we looked at long-term plans for Peckham and the acute need for new homes, especially bigger homes for families in social housing, and affordable office and workspace, we concluded that removing the arch was the best way forward.”

The council worked with Carl Turner Architects to design the scheme, involving the local community in the process.

Projects

PECKHAM PALMS The Peckham Palms scheme will see the creation of a new “beauty boulevard” on Bournemouth Close.

Granted approval in July, the project will create a set of AfroCaribbean hair salons along the road, which will accommodate around 40 workers.

The scheme is connected with the regeneration of the area around Peckham Rye station. The development of a new public square in front of the station will see six salons in the area relocate, and the council said it wanted to help these businesses move without a negative impact on the volume of trade.

So instead of moving the salons to different units across Peckham, a row of garages will be transformed into a new home for them. The space will also cater for new small businesses and community facilities.

Work started on-site in November and completion is expected in summer 2017.

MOUNTVIEW ACADEMY OF THEATRE ARTS Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts was given the green light for proposals for its new base in Peckham town centre at the end of September.

Southwark Council’s planning committee approved plans, which will entail the drama school moving from its north London premises to Peckham Hill Street.

The new site, located by Peckham Square will range from three to five storeys.

The academy will include 9,720sq m of educational accommodation, a canteen, a cafe and a commercial unit on the ground southwarkmagazine.com

floor, along with a rooftop cafe or bar.

The building will be divided into two distinct blocks: the theatre block will include a 200-seat theatre, the teaching block will contain 19 dance, TV and acting studios, three black box studios, 14 singing practice rooms, a student common room, a library and a computer room.

The academy will employ a minimum of 131 full and part-time staff and cater for 400 students.

Mountview will relocate to the site in September 2018. issue

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Projects

OLD KENT ROAD

PECKHAM LEVELS The project to turn a multi-storey car park on Rye Lane into an entertainment and creative hub for five years was given the final go-ahead in July.

Make Shift, the group behind Pop Brixton, will work with Carl Turner Architects, property developer The Collective and Southwark Council on the Peckham Levels scheme.

Seven storeys at the Peckham town centre car park will be transformed into 4,088sq m of workspaces, artists’ studios, public areas, event venues and community space.

When completed, the site will host more than 600 creative ventures, creating 300-350 full-time and 100-200 part-time jobs. A spokesperson for the council said 10% of the profits generated will be retained as a fund for community projects.

The summer pop-up art exhibition spaces, 42 issue 16 winter 2016

run by Bold Tendencies, will continue to operate on floors seven to 10, as will Frank’s Cafe on the rooftop.

The underground and ground levels will become an event space for music, arts and dramatic performances. The external alley will be transformed into a public space for markets and exhibitions.

Floors one and two will include studios and workshops for artists.

Levels three and four will focus on startups and digital media, with co-working spaces, editing suites, photography studios and meeting rooms.

The fifth and sixth floor will host a cafe, a children’s play area, a flexible event space, dance studios and two external terraces. This area will cater for 1,250 people.

Work started in November and the opening is scheduled for summer 2017.

A series of consultation events have taken place on plans to transform Old Kent Road and the surrounding area over the next 20 years.

Berkeley Homes held consultation sessions in autumn 2016 on its proposals for the Malt Street site, where it owns the former Hygrade Meat Factory at Bianca Road, Acorn Wharf and Surrey Wharf.

The exhibition presented residents’ feedback from earlier consultation events and set out how the issues raised and suggestions posed could be incorporated into the scheme, including more green space and safe play areas for children.

Plans are for a residential-led, mixeduse development on the site to help address long-term housing need – building more than 850 homes in a mix of tenures – and deliver economic benefits, via new shops and workspaces for SMEs. The entire site is within the Old Kent Road opportunity area, as designated by the mayor of London. Berkeley states that its proposals will be brought forward in line with this and the Old Kent Road area action plan currently being prepared by Southwark Council.

Southwark Council has invited residents to discuss proposals to build 20,000 homes – including the Berkeley Homes development – and extend the Bakerloo line with two new stations along the road.

Feedback will be collected until the end of November and the final version of the plan will be drafted in 2017. After a final round of consultation, it will be submitted to the secretary of state for an examination in public, held by an independent planning inspector.

The project, first unveiled in June, has the potential to create 5,000 jobs and would also provide new schools and parks.

The road would feature shops, cafes and restaurants, with homes above them. Improvements would be made to bus infrastructure and public realm for pedestrians and cyclists, and new paths linking the surrounding neighbourhoods would be built.

The area around the road would also be improved. New Bermondsey would be provided with a new overground station.

Employment clusters, including office and managed workspace, hybrid, light industrial and low cost space, would be created in Mandela Way, Hatcham Road, Latona Road, Sandgate Street, St James’s Road and southeast Bermondsey.

Up to two primary schools and potentially, one secondary would be built by 2025. Other schools would be provided later in the 20-year plan period.

Projects

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16 winter 2016 43

Regeneration in partnership

PARTNERS IN TIME In undertaking one of the UK’s largest regeneration programmes this century, Southwark Council had to ensure it chose the right development partners for projects varying from the massive to the decidedly niche.

Noella Pio Kivlehan looks at the main schemes, and the criteria used to find the council’s best cohort that will help regenerate neighbourhoods and contribute to creating better opportunities for residents 44 issue 16 winter 2016

Regeneration in partnership

HISTORY IS LITTERED WITH famous partnerships: aviation pioneers The Wright Brothers; music maestros Lennon & McCartney; ice cream whizzes Ben & Jerry’s and, computer geeks Hewlett Packard.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success,” said Henry Ford, American industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company. This is a mantra easily attributable to Southwark Council. When it decided to embark on one of the UK’s largest – and desperately needed – regeneration programmes the council knew only the right partnerships would make the behemoth task work.

The plans involved 40% of the borough being transformed to build 50,000 new homes, with retail, leisure and offices, along with new public realm, by 2043.

To achieve its ambitions, the council grouped the numerous development sites under five headings: major joint ventures on large scale sites; Direct Delivery on infill sites with existing housing land; Hidden Homes programme converting old washrooms and void spaces in housing blocks; buying homes directly from the developer, and lastly, the Southwark Regeneration in Partnership Programme (see panel, page 47).

Of the dozens of projects, it is however, the largest that have attracted most attention and publicity.

Positioned next to one of the world’s most recognisable water crossings – Tower Bridge – is developer Berkeley’s eponymously named luxury residential scheme, made up of eight blocks with one to four-bedroom flats. With the 122-year-old Victorian structure that cost £1.18 million to build – £122 million in today’s money – in its shadow, Berkeley’s One Tower Bridge development had to work with several different parties to become the Grade 1 listed bridge’s neighbour.

Fifteen years in the making, Harry Lewis, managing director at Berkeley Homes (South East London), says it was spent to “ensure we get such an iconic development just right”.

“In addition to working with Southwark Council we also worked closely with a number of stakeholders including English Heritage, Historic Royal Palaces and local residents and community groups to develop plans for the site.”

Lewis says one element that did differ to other sites developed by Berkeley was the requirement for a cultural facility, which will be provided by The London Theatre Company. He adds: “It will have a hugely beneficial impact upon the area, creating footfall, growth and jobs and supporting Southwark’s status as a major cultural destination on the Southbank. At 900 seats, this will be London’s largest new theatre for over 40 years.”

From Victorian bridges to a site spread over 69 hectares and a history dating back to mediaeval times, Elephant and Castle is at the heart of Southwark Council’s ambitions for regeneration. The pace of change at the Elephant and Castle is now accelerating as a number of new developments have secured planning permission and are gearing up to start on site.

The starting gun for change was fired when Lendlease, the council’s joint venture partner, obtained planning permission for the development of Elephant Park, the £2.3 billion project, which is creating 2,500 new homes and 30,000sq m of retail, business and community space. Work is now well under way and a new construction skills centre opened in autumn 2016, providing the training for residents to be able to avail of the hundreds of job opportunities being created by the development.

To the south of the Elephant and Castle, the council is working in a joint venture with

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Berkeley Homes’ development at One Tower Bridge has London’s most recognisable view.

southwarkmagazine.com

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Regeneration in partnership OPPOSITE PAGE: British Land has changed the view at Canada Water (top), where the council has established London’s busiest library.

Delancey’s vision for a new town centre at the Elephant and Castle (below).

THIS PAGE: West Grove is a feature of Lendlease’s Elephant Park development.

46 issue 16 winter 2016

WE HAVE ALWAYS USED PARTNERSHIPS TO HELP US PROVIDE MORE AFFORDABLE HOMES

Notting Hill Housing Trust to transform the Aylesbury estate. It has outline planning consent for the 3,500-home masterplan with detailed planning consent for the first development site of 830 homes. In July Notting Hill submitted a reserved matters application for the next site – Plot 18 – to come forward.

Meanwhile, the empty buildings within the first development site are currently being prepared for demolition and will come down in the coming months. Plot 18 is also being prepared for the new community buildings that include a library, early year’s nursery and new health facilities.

Further east is the former docklands at Canada Water, set to be transformed through a joint venture with British Land, alongside The Shard developer Sellar.

Planning permission for the 18.6-ha site is expected to be submitted next year and will include around 185,000sq m of office or other workspace and 3,500 new homes.

Given the size and importance of these schemes, working with the right partner is crucial.

Stephen Platts, Southwark Council’s director of regeneration, says there is no magic formula for a joint venture, rather the process is clearly set out by rules and standards laid down by the council, the Greater London Authority, and the government.

He says: “We look at quality and price and a developer who can work with the council to achieve its objective for a fairer future – a partner with the capacity and means to produce high quality development offering genuine improvement to people’s lives.”

Picking the right firm follows extensive consultation, due diligence, determining the suitability of the site for construction and identifying constraints that would impact on the delivery of build.

Being viable, affordable, and deliverable are three key elements for a development, says Platts, adding: “We need all that information before we can look at a partner, as the partner needs to know what it is all going to cost.”

Platts also highlights that developers need to follow the Southwark Housing Design Guide for quality housing construction, which is based on national and GLA standards.

A good partnership works both ways, however. From British Land’s point of view, the ideal affiliate has a good track record, strong officer and political teams, shared vision and objectives, and a long-term commitment to the project.

Miles Price, planning director with the Canada Water developer, who has been linked to the area’s regeneration since 2006, says: “Our local authority relationships are good

Regeneration in partnership

SOUTHWARK REGENERATION IN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME

– we make sure we operate in an open and transparent way, and ensure we’re regularly communicating with the council, both officers and members.

“Councils know their communities and often help us connect our resources, such as employment and skills opportunities, to those who can most benefit.”

In working with Southwark Council on the Aylesbury estate, Eleanor Purser, director of regeneration at Notting Hill Housing Trust, says: “We can achieve more in partnership than we can alone and have always used partnerships to help us provide more affordable homes. It is important our partners share that same vision of delivering more affordable homes along with a desire for those homes to help create new opportunities for residents. This is an area which particularly southwarkmagazine.com

underpins our commitment to working with Southwark Council.”

Purser says there is no single formula for success, as every area is different. “But good partnerships rely on mutual respect for each organisation’s experience and expertise, an understanding of the pressures on the partner organisation, as well the trust to allow each to operate to the best of their ability.”

With years still to go before regeneration is complete, the new buildings are already making a difference to the area. Platts says: “If you walk around the Elephant and Castle and the Aylesbury, you can see the impact of this today. It’s about the quality of living in central London, where people are getting the opportunity to live in modern housing in a good environment. It’s lots of exciting opportunities to make a difference.”

Not all regeneration sites being planned and developed in Southwark come in large swathes of headline-grabbing land masses like Elephant and Castle (69ha), or Canada Water at 18.6ha.

The borough is also dotted with smaller sites – predominantly on nonhousing land – that can be utilised for development. To prevent having hordes of different developers and subsequent partners, the council put these under two groups: Lot A and Lot B, known as the Southwark Regeneration in Partnership Programme.

Lot A is seven sites with 338 residential units and 3,472sq m of commercial space, and Lot B is 10 sites with 606 residential units and 4,129sq m for commercial use.

In September developing housing association, Affinity Sutton was awarded the contract on Plot B, while Lot A remains up for grabs. “There were no bidders for Lot A which covers the sites in the north of the borough… due to changes in the property market and the uncertainty caused by Brexit,” Councillor Mark Williams, cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, stated in the council’s September report on SRPP. He added: “These sites will be repackaged and we will go back out to tender this autumn. South Dock Marina, originally in Lot A, will be taken forward as a standalone development.”

The 116-year old Affinity Sutton is certainly delighted with its sites, which it signed on a 10-year contract, costing around £153 million with a council subsidy of £11.5 million.

Kerry Kyriacou, Affinity Sutton’s group director of development, says: “We wanted to build on our existing legacy of investing in new homes and communities in Southwark. “We are already in the borough, with over 100 years of providing affordable housing in Southwark, and we feel ideally placed to deliver a new development in the area which local people can feel proud of and benefit from.”

Kyriacou, says quality and design are ‘at the heart of the plans we have put forward.’

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Strong in SE1 Investing in Southwark

Unlocking potential

Health

WELL BUILDING

With world-leading cancer and research centres, Southwark is at the forefront of medical discoveries and treatment, but the council is also working hard to ensure its residents have the support to stay fit and well for longer, as Maria Shahid finds out southwarkmagazine.com

SOUTHWARK’S RESIDENTS ARE happier and more satisfied with life in 2016 than they were in 2012, so says a national happiness survey by the Office for National Statistics.

However, the council believes that more can be done to improve the wellbeing of residents, and it has put almost £50 million of investment into leisure facilities, making it easier for people to make healthier choices and to achieve a more active lifestyle. As part of this, they are able to swim and use gym facilities for free in all of the borough’s leisure centres, operated by Everyone Active in partnership with Southwark Council. The offer is available any time on a Friday, as well as weekend afternoons. Disabled residents can use leisure facilities for free seven days a week, while the over 60s can take part in any Silver sessions for free.

The council believes the best way for its residents to be healthier is to provide schemes and facilities which are easy to access. By allowing free sessions, it hopes to encourage parents to exercise alongside their children.

Councillor Maisie Anderson, cabinet member for public health, parks and leisure, says: “With busy lifestyles, the rise of technology and the cost of living, getting fit is not easy. This scheme is a fantastic way of addressing the cost barrier that holds many people back. While it’s not the whole picture, I hope it will be the kick-start that many people need to get active.”

Meanwhile, NHS Southwark CCG, which is responsible for planning, monitoring and paying for most of the health services NHS patients receive in the area, is developing a strategy with Southwark Council looking at local NHS and care services in the borough.

Malcolm Hines, chief finance officer at Southwark CCG, explains: “Our estates strategy has three main aims – to respond to the regeneration programme within Southwark, ensuring we have sufficient quality primary care services and facilities for the expected increase in population; to respond to Southwark’s Five Year Forward View, which expects more services to be provided in community settings, and to make sure that all primary care is provided from good quality premises.”

He adds that the draft strategy is currently going through the process of internal approval within the CCG. As part of this, Southwark’s planning committee in October 2016 gave the green light to a new healthcare centre and community secondary school to be built on the Dulwich Community Hospital site.

Meanwhile the Aylesbury Partnership, Bermondsey and Lansdowne Medical Mission, Walworth Partnership and Princess

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Health

Street Group practices, all located in the borough, merged to become the largest GP practice in London. Plans for an integrated health centre are also being developed, as part of the regeneration of the Aylesbury.

Southwark is the base for world leaders in research and treatment. The Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) at South London and Maudsley and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trusts, and their academic partner King’s College London, have been involved in groundbreaking research, including a clinical trial harnessing the power of the immune system to help in the fight against cancer.

50 issue 16 winter 2016

And at Guy’s a new £160 million cancer centre opened its doors in September, and brings the majority of cancer services and research under one roof. Prior to this, cancer care was provided in 13 different locations across the St Thomas’ and Guy’s sites. The new centre applies a patient-focused model, and is made up of a number of ‘villages’ dedicated to different aspects of cancer care.

Art and creativity play an important part in the centre – a sculpture at the entrance is inspired by a Roman boat buried beneath the foundations of the building.

The cancer centre was largely funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust,

ABOVE, RIGHT, PREVIOUS PAGE: Guy’s brings several cancer services under one roof, and is the first centre in Europe to provide patients with radiotherapy treatment above ground level.

Health

GUY’S CANCER CENTRE – A HUGE LEAP IN THE JOURNEY TO TRANSFORM TREATMENT, CARE AND RESEARCH

and the cancer centre was made possible by a grant of £25 million from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, and a £15 million grant awarded to King’s College London from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund for the Innovation Hub. Kieron Boyle, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, says: “The opening of the cancer centre at Guy’s represents a huge leap

in the journey to transform treatment, cancer care and research at Guy’s and St Thomas’.”

The council is also responsible for the care of its ageing population, and offers extra care housing for those who can live in their own home, but need 24-hour support on hand.

In addition to this, United St Saviour’s owns an 18th century almshouse in Southwark as well as another in Purley, providing independent living for the borough’s elderly residents.

Planning permission has also been granted for a third almshouse in Bermondsey, which will provide 57 homes on Southwark Park Road. Martyn Craddock, chief executive of St Saviour’s says the charity feels strongly that older people should be able to live in inner cities: “We want people to stay in the borough and retire here.”

And plans are also under way for a specialist dementia centre in Cator Street in Peckham, which is due to be ready in 2019.

Everything is in place to make sure that Southwark’s residents can access the health services they need, when they need them.

And to encourage healthy choices and reduce people’s need for medical intervention or treatment, the council works proactively to draw together the holistic aspects of a healthier lifestyle. This entails a raft of initiatives such as the use of the planning process to implement policies restricting fast food outlets in the vicinity of schools.

In the push to a healthier population, the new Southwark Plan is designed to ensure that well-being is integrated into town planning with policies to tackle problems and promote active lifestyles through the design of buildings, wider access to sports facilities and open space, and options for sustainable transport. In Southwark, it is made much easier for residents to choose a healthier way.

DRUG AND ALCOHOL SUPPORT SERVICES Lifeline Southwark is a new integrated service in the borough, which operates six days a week from its main hub in Addington Square, as well as a second site in Camberwell, and a number of community-based satellite services located across the borough, such as hostels, day centres, pharmacies, GP surgeries and police stations.

The service works at all levels from prevention and early engagement through to recovery. southwarkmagazine.com

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WORKING TOGETHER Building regulations?

No problem – we’re here to help Whether you’re building a dwelling extension or a complex skyscraper Southwark Council’s building control team can help you. > We have dedicated and experienced building control surveyors > We provide advice and support for our clients and design teams > We take the complexity out of the technical > We promote and support innovative design solutions Peter Card, head of building control 020 7525 5588 Simon Harvey, group manager 020 7525 5586 building.control@southwark.gov.uk www.southwark.gov.uk/buildingcontrol

Southwark’s regional winners in the 2015 LABC London Building Excellence Awards

Image: Peter Durant

Mickey Lee

Best domestic extension – Frank Dixon Way, Dulwich

Best large housing development – Neo, Bankside

Best large commercial and best technical innovation – The Shard, Borough

www.southwark.gov.uk

Infrastructure

UNDER PRESSURE With a growing population and more new homes in development, getting around town remains a challenge. Southwark Council, working with Transport for London, Network Rail and other infrastructure partners, is pushing through on initiatives to smooth the way for its residents on a journey, as Matthew Young reports

LEFT: Coming soon – the new Tooley Street entrance to London Bridge station.

TRAVELLING AROUND THE CAPITAL can be the bugbear of many a Londoner, but a raft of projects in Southwark is ensuring the borough stays ahead of the game in providing smooth – and healthy – journeys for residents and commuters.

The council’s cycling strategy has already taken off, with huge numbers now taking to the saddle as a preferred means of transport – but the authority’s ambition is to engage everyone, reaching beyond established cycling southwarkmagazine.com

tribes. Southwark Council wants to see people riding bikes for transport, fitness and fun, making cycling an activity as commonplace as it is in Amsterdam or Copenhagen, where citizens of any age, shape and physical condition need little encouragement to bowl around their cities on two wheels.

Getting more people to ride takes creativity, which came in panier-fulls when Bicycle Ballet took to the streets in summer 2016. To help spread the biking bug among girls

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Infrastructure

RIGHT, ABOVE AND BELOW: Bicycle Ballet’s Blazing Saddles took to the streets to encourage more women and girls to ride.

MAIN IMAGE: The continuing development of London Bridge station includes an internal concourse in The Shard.

THE BRIDGE WOULD PROVIDE A LINK BETWEEN ROTHERHITHE AND CANARY WHARF, EASING PRESSURE FOR JUBILEE LINE COMMUTERS and women, Southwark Council commissioned Blazing Saddles, an outdoor show of contemporary dance with bicycles, which celebrates women, cycling and fashion.

Funded by Arts Council England, and linking in to other campaigns to encourage girls and women to be active in sport, Blazing Saddles aimed to reach wider audiences in seven locations around Dulwich, through performances which encompassed the arts, cycling, sport, transport, sustainability and health.

Aside from cycling, the ongoing upgrades to London Bridge station are finally visible with the opening of a brand new concourse, while a huge project to untangle the tracks leading to the station, the Bermondsey diveunder, is set to make travel in and out of the station a far smoother task.

An ambitious project to construct a cycling and walking bridge from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf has recently accelerated following support from London mayor Sadiq Khan, meaning it could be up and running by 2020.

The changing face of Southwark is all part of initiatives by the local authority and Transport for London (TfL) to ensure the borough’s infrastructure not only copes – but allows its residents to thrive.

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Southwark Council’s cycle strategy is key to this, with some £30 million being invested in cycling and walking improvements over the next five years. A key objective is to deliver the Southwark Spine, a high-quality, north-south cycle route, which connects the river to the heart of the borough at the Elephant and Castle before weaving south into East Dulwich.

The first section of the Spine was delivered in June 2015 with the opening of the segregated Cycle Superhighway which connects the Elephant and Castle to the river at Blackfriars Bridge. The route has seen a huge upturn in the number of cyclists on the area’s roads, with some 70% of vehicles on Blackfriars Bridge during rush hour now being bicycles.

A number of Quietway routes running from east to west also connect to the main Southwark Spine. Opened in June, the first Quietway in London, linking Greenwich to Waterloo, was delivered in partnership with TfL, Lambeth, Greenwich and Southwark councils.

Quietway routes are intended to take cyclists off main roads in favour of back streets, traffic-free paths and cyclist-only contraflows.

Councillor Ian Wingfield, Southwark’s cabinet member

Infrastructure

for environment and the public realm, says: “We want cycling to be for the many, not the few – the natural choice for getting from A to B – with people from all over Southwark, of all ages, abilities and backgrounds able to cycle an attractive, quiet route that does not involve sharing the road with large vehicles or fast moving traffic.

“We have already delivered a number of projects, many in partnership with Transport for London and the local community, to create better streets for walking and cycling.”

The council is also investing in schemes to help provide people with the skill and knowledge needed to allow them to get around on bike or on foot. And it is looking at ways to diversify and get more women, along with older and disabled people, to start cycling.

Over in Rotherhithe, a massive project to increase the number of cyclists and walkers – and ease journeys for crammed commuters – recently received a boost from London mayor Sadiq Khan.

The idea of a bridge from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf has been on the backburner for almost a decade, after first being mooted by Sustrans, a charity that aims to promote sustainable transport for all. Its idea for the Rotherhithe southwarkmagazine.com

Bridge was halted because of the economic downturn but was picked up again in recent years.

The aim was to provide a key link between Rotherhithe, with its increasing number of residents, and the evergrowing Canary Wharf, while easing pressure for commuters on the often packed Jubilee line.

Khan says he would “accelerate” plans for the bridge, which could see it open by 2020 as part of a commitment to “greener, public transport-focused crossings”.

Matt Winfield, deputy director of Sustrans, says that although it initially developed the idea, Sustrans is now keen to work alongside TfL and the mayor in order to make it happen. “It’s a project too big for us to deliver, so it’s now up to TfL and the mayor,” he says While strides are being made in Southwark to ensure a healthier and greener mode of transport becomes the norm, long awaited improvements to London Bridge station are also now finally visible.

On the August bank holiday, the first section of a huge new concourse opened, giving passengers a glimpse of things to come at Britain’s oldest surviving train station.

It is built underneath the existing railway as part of

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Infrastructure

RIGHT: The Cycle Superhighway separates cyclists from the dangers of traffic.

TWO NEW STATIONS WILL BE COMING TO THE OLD KENT ROAD, UNLOCKING DEVELOPMENT OF 20,000 HOMES AND 5,000 JOBS Network Rail’s upgrade plan to provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers and businesses, and can be accessed at ground level at St Thomas Street.

When the full concourse is complete, it will be bigger than Wembley football pitch, and will increase passenger capacity by some 56%.

By 2018, London Bridge station will be longer than the 310 metre-high Shard is tall, and will include up to 80 retail units.

A vital development in enabling the station project is the Bermondsey dive-under, a huge span of track on the approach to the station that is being rebuilt to make journeys into London Bridge and beyond far easier.

Currently, trains travelling in from Kent and Sussex arrive into London Bridge on a mish-mash of lines that have to cross each other in order to make it into the superbusy station which, in turn, reduces the number of trains that can travel through the centre of London.

The dive-under is a huge project that will essentially serve as one large junction, allowing Thameslink lines to 56 issue 16 winter 2016

travel over the top of Kent lines, which will instead “dive under” to ease congestion, National Rail’s Alexandra Swann says.

By the time it is completed in 2018, the congestionbusting dive-under means that some 24 trains per hour will be able to travel through central London at peak time.

But we do not have to wait until then to get a glimpse of the new junction, as a Sussex line is due to open for festive travellers on 27 December.

“The Bermondsey dive-under is absolutely crucial, that’s the most important part of the project,” adds Swann.

Elsewhere in Southwark, two new tube stations will be coming to the Old Kent Road, after confirmation of the decision to extend the Bakerloo line to Lewisham. The council is currently working with the local community to develop a planning framework for the Old Kent Road opportunity area.

The new stations will help to unlock development of 20,000 new homes, 5,000 additional jobs, two new primary schools – and turn the road itself into a “modern boulevard” by 2036.

And in Camberwell residents are waiting to hear whether a new station will be funded.

A planning application has been submitted for a new Northern line ticket hall with escalators at the Elephant and Castle station, part of the massive regeneration project which is creating a new town centre.

Southwark and its partners have the task of upgrading old infrastructure to ensure it copes with an everevolving city, but with various completed projects, and developments in the pipeline, this busy borough continues to thrive while infrastructure is being improved.

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Sitematch

HIDDEN GEMS Not all of Southwark’s regeneration is happening on a massive scale – the council is identifying opportunities on more compact sites which will appeal to small and medium-sized developers, as Sitematch research manager Huub Nieuwstadt reports HANDY PACKAGE: Opportunities for smaller developers include Manor Place (left) and below, plans for Albion School.

Southwark Council is committed to building 11,000 council homes by 2043 – a massive task, requiring creative thinking and innovative schemes to deliver.

In the last edition of Southwark magazine, we reported on the Southwark Regeneration in Partnership Programme (SRPP), an initiative that aims to deliver a total of 1,200 homes – and which is featured in more detail on page 44 of this issue.

The council will package small, under58 issue 16 winter 2016

utilised or redundant sites together, to bring an attractive opportunity to market. The first tranche, identified as Lot B, included sites in Camberwell and Peckham and was marketed earlier this year, with Affinity Sutton confirmed as the winning bidder.

The council is currently preparing the next package of sites for marketing, consisting of nine around the borough and known as Lot A. The opportunity is developed specifically for small to medium-sized developers, who were

invited to learn more about these sites during the second Southwark Bidders Day Event, which took place on 15 November.

One of the sites is Manor Place in Kennington, which consists of a terrace of Victorian homes and a single storey modern building on Stopford Road. The site benefits from plenty of green space from nearby Pasley Park – which holds a Green Flag award – and Walworth Garden Farm.

The area is well connected via public transport: Kennington underground station is nearby, as well as Elephant and Castle.

Redevelopment of the site will make room for 66 new homes with mixed tenure, as well as a surgery, cafe and retail units. A number of homes will be built according to the new London Living Rent initiative put forward by mayor of London Sadiq Khan, so the rent of these homes will be set at 33% of median household income in the local area.

The other sites in the package include Abbeyfield, Albion Civic Centre, Albion School, Braganza Street, Cherry Gardens School, South Dock Boatyard and Southwark Park Road. The council will be inviting smaller to medium-sized developers to submit their bids by February or March 2017.

The successful bid will be announced in the summer of 2017.

Further details or information can be obtained by contacting Bruce Glockling, Southwark Council’s head of regeneration, at bruce.glockling@southwark.gov.uk

“We are keen to meet with potential partners to help build 11,000 council homes and a range of new community facilities.

We look forward to hosting the next Sitematch London in Southwark�

Eleanor Kelly, chief executive, Southwark Council

8 February 2017, The Shard, London Visit sitematchlondon.com or contact: Paul Gussar for sponsorship: paul@3foxinternational.com Josie Brewer for delegates: josie@3foxinternational.com

SITEMATCH LONDON IS PROUD TO BE BACK IN SOUTHWARK Advisers

Partners

C85 M21 Y0 K0

Organiser

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Capita Real Estate

southwark

MOUNT ANVIL ARE PROUD TO BE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE HERITAGE OF LONDON TRUST TO RESTORE THE THOMAS GUY STATUE IN SOUTHWARK

Regeneration alliance Delivering 11,000 new council homes by 2043 takes solid relationships with effective partners

Choose life Residents’ choice of healthy options can begin to reduce pressure on health services

Stage play London’s theatreland moves south – academy, performance spaces and a new 900-seater

Back to our routes Transport infrastructure is changing in Southwark – getting around is easier by bike, train and tube

Learning curve The best ever results in Southwark schools – and one of the highest improving boroughs

southwark Issue 16 Winter 2016

At Mount Anvil we place great importance on the preservation of heritage and the cultural fabric of London. We are committed to improving the public realm and delivering homes and communities across London that ensure its legacy as a world-class city.

Discover more at mountanvil.com or call 020 7776 1800

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THE HERITAGE OF LONDON TRUST IS DELIGHTED THAT MOUNT ANVIL IS SUPPORTING THE RESTORATION OF THE THOMAS GUY STATUE. MONUMENTS LIKE THESE ARE PART OF LONDON’S FANTASTIC CULTURAL HERITAGE. MOUNT ANVIL IS A DEVELOPER WITH A REAL COMMITMENT TO MAKING LONDON A WORLD-CLASS CITY.

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— HERITAGE OF LONDON

Issue 16 Winter 2016

CHOICES: LEARN, ACT, ACHIEVE

Theatres of culture and science, world class research and treatment, where good educational attainment is no drama