New 35-floor tower to commence shortly near Canada Water station

British Land are commencing work on a 35-storey tower beside Canada Water station as part of the Surrey Quays shopping centre redevelopment.

Approval was given by Southwark Council in September 2019. The tower will bring nearly 200 new homes, while overall the entire shopping centre redevelopment will see 3,500 homes.

A petrol station closed yesterday (16th May) to enable work to progress. Work will see three buildings of six floors in height alongside the main tower. The former Rotherhithe police station which closed in 2012 is being demolished to create a work site.

To break up massing, the tower has three colours for various elements of the structure tapering towards the top. It sits near towers dating from local authority post-war blocks to 21st century high rises.

The site sits alongside Deal Porters Way which will become a main thoroughfare and High Street through the overall 3,500-home site. The new High Street will run through what is currently a giant car park.

Affordable housing has been split, with most located in a specific block some distance away at plot K1 of the masterplan. It’s so far out it’s not within the red boundary line seen above.

Plot A2 will see a new leisure centre beside the tower.

Transport

The tower and related mid-rises block will be car-free except for four blue badge spaces.

Across the masterplan site parking is halved from 2,000 to 1,000. That’s still a sizeable amount in Zone 2 beside a number of stations. Canada Water station is a close walk – though regularly saw overcrowding pre-pandemic.

Cycle parking is the focus with 274 long stay and 112 short stay cycle spaces. And unlike many developments that feature extensive cycle parking but lack good cycling facilities, this is extremely close to Cycleway 4 offering a quick, direct and segregated route into central London and Greenwich.

This site took a look at a stretch of almost-complete Cycleway 4 between Greenwich and Deptford yesterday. It will then head north along Evelyn Street, Lower Road and meet existing lanes on Jamaica Road.

In June 2020 Southwark Council agreed to allocate over £1 million in Section 106 income towards new cycle hire locations including in the vicinity of Surrey Quays. This is something Lewisham and Greenwich Council’s have so far refused to do to enable cycle hire to extend south east along new cycle routes through Deptford, Greenwich, Charlton and Woolwich.

Work is expected to complete on the tower, affordable housing block and leisure centre in 2024. Other blocks will follow in coming years.