Lewisham cinema, retail and housing project progressing
A trip to Lewisham this past week shows progress being made to construct hundreds of homes, shops and a new cinema on site near Lewisham station.
This is Lewisham Gateway from developer Muse. No, not them.
The 2000’s parts bin has been well and truly raided for the corner building.
Like sticking a massive spoiler on a 1990s Ford Fiesta, those gold bands aren’t really elevating the structure.
It’s possibly one of the few buildings that replicates the grey plasticky cladding bands seen on Woolwich Tesco.
As for the main tower, it’s build to rent residential and all but complete externally.
The dreary cladding doesn’t get the soul soaring on a grey day.
Massing is hefty to say the least for the adjacent block sitting beside bus stops and pretty much constant traffic.
Renders shows alternating white and gold cladding upon completion for this block.
When finished this last stage of Lewisham Gateway will provide 649 flats.
The location couldn’t be better if you seek a bit of life – though Lewisham really could do with some better pubs and nightlife.
It’s a short stroll to Lewisham station for DLR and Southeastern services.
Numerous buses stop outside and amenities are within walking distance.
Traffic around the site is horrendous much of the time.
Buses and cars sit nose to tail.
Upon completion people heading to the town centre from the station need not walk past bus stops as a central pedestrian route will heads through the overall development with commercial units along the way.
To reiterate – as people always comment – the majority of the plot’s structures have NOT had cladding applied yet so do not judge it yet.
Where cladding has been applied it’s not the best, but things may improve.
Hope springs eternal.
It is a tragedy how this area has been ruined for a whole generation. Building slums for the future. Traffic is horrendous, and cycling around there is life-threatening.
The Citibank building used to be an eyesore in Lewisham. These days it seems pretty innocuous in comparison. No amount of cladding will improve the looming oppressiveness of this development.