Calico Wharf
Calico Wharf
Calico Wharf will regenerate one of the last remaining brownfield sites in Tower Hamlets, transforming a heavily contaminated 2.5ha tract of land next to the River Lea as part of a £250m residential scheme, which will provide 952 homes and a new park.
Situated between a busy urban motorway and the river, the key to unlocking this site has been to change the perception of it, from post-industrial wasteland to new urban quarter. Calico Wharf will be spread across 13 buildings ranging in heights up to 23 storeys, with a key component of the scheme being improved public realm and the activation of the river frontage. Here, we advised on designs to improve permeability along the river’s edge and with surrounding neighbourhoods by introducing a new pedestrian and cycle link through the site to a riverwalk, which will connect to a proposed new footbridge across Bow Creek linking Tower Hamlets to Newham as well as a riverside park and new square.
Our engineering work has been extremely challenging. The site was a former fuel storage from the 1890s to the 1970s. Thereafter, the site was used for a mixture of light industrial activities including waste recycling and transfer stations, vehicle repairs and dismantling and wood recycling and storage. This site history had led to asbestos, heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination of both underlying soils and shallow groundwater in the form of Light Non Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL). Furthermore, the site was infested with Japanese Knotweed. To compound these issues, the ground and river walls which needed replacing, whilst there was also a low-level, large diameter sewer and 66KV high voltage cables running through the site, both of which will be built over as part of the scheme. Our extensive work as engineers in collaboration with the site investigation team enabled this wide-ranging scheme to develop and subsequently achieve planning approval.
The project was also shortlisted at the Planning Awards for Best Use of Brownfield Land in Placemaking.
Client: Risland UK