Silvertown
London, UK

The Silvertown site has been fenced off from the public for over 40 years despite its proximity to London City Airport, DLR station, and the new Customs House Elizabeth Line station. Regenerating this 28-hectare plot of land is consequently of strategic importance to the capital and the South-East.

The Prior + Partners masterplan, developed for The Silvertown Partnership – a collaboration between Starwood Capital and Lendlease – seeks to reintegrate the site with its wider context and give a bold identity founded on industrial heritage. Historic buildings, docks, and broad vistas across waterbodies are combined to create a new dockside destination for London.

Central to this vision is the creation of a dynamic community of 6,500 new homes, half of which will be affordable. The project’s vision brings together new leisure spaces, cultural venues, community facilities, and new creative employment areas, all distributed across five unique new neighborhoods. Two of these are dedicated employment hubs at the east and west of the masterplan, while three new neighbourhoods provide for the needs and aspirations of Silvertown’s new residential community.

Millennium Mills, a Grade II-listed building and an icon in the Docks, will serve as the centerpiece for one of the employment hubs with bustling spaces for exhibitions and events, while a second Grade II-listed structure – ‘Silo D’, will be framed by a new open space, and will give character and identity to one of the new residential quarters.

A second employment hub – ‘Silverworks’ is designed to attract creative workspaces and local businesses, as a home innovation and entrepreneurship. The family-centric area of Victoria Gardens in the southeast prioritises community living, with a unique garden block form that provides generous spaces and amenities for young families.

Finally, Pontoon Dock, located near the DLR station, establishes a destination of food and beverage, water activities and retail.

Silvertown will be the final, pivotal piece of dockside development within the Royal Docks and maximising the relationship with the water is one of the key objectives of the masterplan. Once complete, the project will establish public accessibility to the vast majority of the dock edge for the first time, lined with new open spaces and routes. This new public realm will provide a mix of formal play and leisure facilities, including extreme sports circuits, ball courts, and kayak clubs.

Aside from strategically positioned open spaces around the water bodies, the public realm is conceived as the main element in building a sense of community and to elevate residents’ quality of life. Together, prominent heritage sites and carefully planned open spaces serve as the backbone of the design, forming a network of interconnected routes that seamlessly weave through the entirety of Silvertown.

This public realm and open space network establishes clear, easily navigable, and secure pedestrian pathways, knitting in Silvertown with its surroundings.

The project has undergone thorough consultations with key stakeholders, including the London Borough of Newham planning and design officers, the Design Review Panel, and the Greater London Authority. Extensive engagement with local stakeholders, industry leaders, and the community was facilitated through events like Design Code workshops, youth sessions, and a Community Day involving local businesses. This approach works towards a comprehensive, inclusive strategy, aimed at enhancing Silvertown’s livability and resilience, ensuring a positive impact on the community and its long-term sustainability.

Detailed planning permission was granted for Phase One in 2019, with enabling works and piling now underway. A Hybrid Planning Application was submitted in 2023, with ­­­­Reserved Matters Applications to follow as the vision for Silvertown continues to take shape on site.