Introduction | Royal Albert Dock

Establishing community benefits by creating civic spaces for all

The Vision

Sustainable

Green landscaped waterfront and public square with community gardens and planting space

People-first urban realm that actively discourages private vehicle use

Inclusive Community

Creation of a large community space for all with a café, multi-functional rooms, activity halls, workshopping space and support services

Student focussed centre with teaching, work and leisure space

Accessible

People-first urban realm that actively discourages vehicle use through design of streets and limited parking

Convenient cycle parking

Enhancing northern entrance to site with

Place Identity

Hosting events by the community such as local business markets, cultural festivals and street parties from the start

Public realm will be distinctive and a destination park, maximising the waterfront with floating gardens and seating

Local Opportunities

Repurposing ABP Phase 1 ground-floor units with co-working spaces

Opening up units accessible and priority to local business and start-ups

Heritage & Vibrancy

Retention of heritage buildings and placing them at the physical and cultural centre of the site's activity

Creating a heritage trail to encourage activation of public space and link the past to the present

Redesigning ABP phase 1 building facades, using green walls and planting to enhance vibrancy

Masterplan Principles

This masterplan presents regenerating the Royal Albert Dock through a community-led approach. Royal Albert will host a range of local-led initiatives and provide the spaces to empower and enrich the community through these key masterplanning principles:

Bringing new life to heritage buildings and placing them into the hands of the community for social and events space

Create inviting and flexible public open space and waterfront hosting events, markets, festivals and community gardens

Sustainably repurpose ground floors of ABP Phase 1 creating co-working spaces and units for local businesses to start-up and grow

Establish a student-focussed hub and social space alongside the college and university to invigorate the site with student life

Design & Implementation

Community Hub & Waterfront

Events space
Support centre
Community café
Green public realm
Floating gardens

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Student Hub

Social spaces
Study rooms
Teaching spaces

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Redesigned Offices

Co-working hubs
Local business and start-ups retail space

This masterplan brief covers 3 sites in the Royal Albert Dock shown on the plan above. The variety in the sites chosen aims to cover and incorporate as many design elements as possible and indicate how s full masterplan of the site may be formed. The heritage buildings chosen are the Dock Office and Central Buffet at the heart of the development.

This masterplan explores how the physical design of the site can be implemented to create social community benefits.

Implementation

Developing Resillience

Developing a Resillient Masterplan

Impacts of Covid-19

Highlighted the importance of well-designed cities and liveable vibrant neighbourhoods with access to high quality public open spaces for the benefit of people's health, wellbeing and the environment

Led to many more people to work from home, travel less and restrict use of public transport

Demand for office space has also significantly reduced post-pandemic

How Covid-19 affected regeneration

The pandemic highlighted the need for a different form of regeneration on this site, away from the highly growth-led design of the failed ABP development

The need for social spaces, high quality public realm, co-working space, encouraging walking and cycling and the need to focus benefitting the community first is key to delivering social improvements in Newham, particularly post-pandemic