Canary Wharf unveils plans for 55-storey resi tower

Canary Wharf Group has unveiled plans for a new residential tower of 55 storeys on a vacant plot in the Isle of Dogs business district.

The Park Place scheme, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), will consist of 624 homes for rent managed through Canary Wharf’s rental arm Vertus. The build to rent homes will be a mixture of market and affordable rent.

The new tower will be built on a vacant site in the western side of Canary Wharf, facing the middle dock.

A 2015 planning consent for a commercial-led office building is still live, but Canary Wharf Group now believes that a “mix of residential, cultural, retail, co-working and leisure uses would be of greater benefit to this part of the Estate”. It will therefore seek a fresh planning permission to include residential.

See also: All change at Canary Wharf: shifting focus to residential

The move is part of a longer-term plan by Canary Wharf Group to re-purpose Canary Wharf as a place to live, rather than as a pure business district.

The Wood Wharf scheme, designed by Allies and Morrison plans to provide more than 3,600 new homes, 25% of which will be affordable, along with a school and a GP surgery.

In February the Wharf’s first build-to-rent scheme opened at 10 George Street, providing 327 homes. A 38-storey, 900-home tower by Hadley Property Group was also approved at nearby Blackwall Way last month.

The proposed Park Place development also includes a four-storey mixed-use ‘pavilion’ building offering remote working facilities, cultural and retail spaces, public spaces and new thoroughfares.