A look at Woolwich Mast Quay towers
Two towers that were on hold for more than a decade due to financial issues are now rising quickly in Woolwich as part of phase 2 of Mast Quay.
The towers are located beside the Woolwich ferry, and follow on from mid-2000s blocks next door to the west.
Funding was secured last year to complete the build-to-rent towers. The above view shows the blocks in relation to the first two of six towers at the former Waterfront leisure centre car park.
Land between is the leisure centre itself which will close, with facilities moving to the town centre. Housing blocks are likely there.
Like neighbouring blocks at Mast Quay, the ground level will be unoccupied to mitigate against flooding. Some commercial space is included for a potential cafe.
The towers are quite dated in design, with little apparently having changed since work ceased after the 2008 financial crises.
It was the Irish Resolution Bank that ended up submitting some planning documents. They were created to deal with resolving issues after 2008. However, the original applicant Comer Homes are still involved.
Work will eventually repair and restore the Thames path, though for now diversions are in place.
Permission for the two blocks was granted on appeal, and comprises 218 flats.
Heights top out at 22-floors. Woolwich has a problem of many towers all around the same height here, down the road at Berkeley’s towers, Spray Street and other plots. A lack of variation does not bode well for the skyline.
When complete the block closes to the ferry should see greater glazing on its exterior than those blocks already complete.
The area has been vacant for as long as I can remember; at least 20 years. It was part of Woolwich docks and formerly an area where masts imported from Scandinavia for the Royal Navy’s ships were based. The curtain wall glazing on the tallest tower is supposed to refence that past and resemble a sail.
I’m trying something a little different now, and below is a gallery slideshow with more photos taken by myself alongside renders for you to view:
Previous plans for the site were submitted just around the Millennium which included a hotel, though they never progressed:
The tallest Mast Quay block is barely half way up to it’s eventual full height and will be noticeably taller than the first two completed towers and the third which has reached around full height. I’ll keep tabs on progress and update in coming months.
“Extra glazing for those flats closest to the ferry…..”
Interesting, because from inside my flat – at the eastern extreme of Royal Arsenal – I sometimes heard safety announcements from onboard Ben Woollacott and Dame Vera Lynn (yes both at once, from either riverbank). The poor residents of Mast Quay Towers will be plagued by these announcements every twenty minutes or so, seven days a week!
And then there is those heavy vehicles noises….