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Buckley Gray Yeoman has submitted designs for a new mixed use development at Dace Road in Hackney Wick to planners at the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) on behalf of Aitch Group. The new development will replace outdated light-industrial sheds with four new buildings arranged around a central courtyard, creating new public space and pedestrian routes at the south western gateway to Hackney Wick. The new buildings will be up to six storeys in height, containing more commercial floor area than the existing buildings provide alongside 110 new homes.
Matt Yeoman, Director of Buckley Gray Yeoman said: “Hackney Wick is one of London’s most interesting and distinctive neighbourhoods. Much has been made of the fact that it has the highest concentration of artists’ studios in Europe and it is also home to a diverse collection of SME businesses: factories, maker spaces and warehouses, as well as cultural venues like galleries and theatres. The area can rightly claim to be London’s creative workshop and is a hotspot for the entrepreneurial maker culture that many are suggesting provides a model for our future economy. “Our development at Dace Road will provide office space and workshops alongside housing, retail and cafes, providing space for the range of uses that make this multi-faceted neighbourhood a place where culture is produced as well as consumed.
”Buckley Gray Yeoman’s design proposes three brick-built residential buildings with commercial uses on the ground floor, inspired by the converted warehouses typical of the area. The prominent corner of Dace Road and Monier Road will be marked by a contemporary steel and glass commercial building, making the most of the site’s location at a major south western entrance to Hackney Wick. Of the 110 new homes, 8 will be let under intermediate tenure and 14 offered for social rent. 56 of the flats will have two bedrooms or more. 6,300 sq m of commercial and light industrial space will provide opportunities for Hackney Wick’s community of Small to Medium Enterprises. The buildings are arranged around a central courtyard with an anchor café unit to provide a social hub for the development. New mature trees will be planted along pedestrian routes cutting between the buildings and leading into the landscaped courtyard, creating a high-quality public realm with places to linger as well as yard space for the commercial premises.
Nick Myall
News editor
