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The plan will reinstate and create a permanent music venue in one half of the large former Printworks building, the other half will deliver next-generation sustainable workspace and retail, known as The Grand Press.

The designs, led by architects Hawkins\Brown, seek to maintain the building’s volume and character while creating a highly sustainable and modern cultural venue.

Planned interior of Printworks building

There are four key new cultural spaces planned at the new Printworks, which is scheduled to reopen in 2026:

• Printworks’ world-renowned Press Halls retained. The iconic space will be kept with the Press Halls remaining the focal point of the Printworks’ programme. Live music events, concerts, immersive art exhibitions and corporate events of similar capacity will be hosted here

• A brand-new rooftop leisure and cultural space. This new event space – complete with soaring views of London
• The Inkwells. A performance space dedicated to immersive exhibitions, multi-disciplinary art shows and more intimate music events
• A series of new suites with views of the Press Halls. These will offer versatile spaces for meetings, conferences, events, and corporate hospitality

Emma Cariaga, joint head of Canada Water at British Land, said: “We want to deliver a permanent world-class cultural venue at Printworks that builds on its globally acclaimed legacy.

“Combining the best of the capital’s culture with next-generation workspace at The Grand Press will create an unrivalled experiential destination, which generations will benefit from for years to come.

“Printworks had a tremendous impact on the UK’s cultural landscape, and its popularity over the past six years has demonstrated how important this multi-dimensional venue is to Londoners and visitors from all over the world who were drawn to its cutting-edge programming.”

Revised fire safety guidance required five of the proposed seven buildings on the Chapel Place site to be redesigned with a secondary means of escape.

The design tweak will see two storeys added to the tallest tower, bringing it to 36 storeys, while two other blocks will increase by one storey.

Overall this sees the number of flats raised by just over 20 to 860 units and student bedrooms raised by 20 to 467.

The Chapel Place scheme on a 4.82-acre Sainsbury’s site in Ilford will deliver more than 1,000 new homes, which will be a combination of build to rent, affordable housing and student accommodation.

Telford Homes also will provide 7,000 sq m of public realm, which will include the new park space and 3,668 sqm of play space for children.

Anne Kavanagh, chief executive officer at Telford Homes, said: “We are delighted to have received a unanimous revised resolution to grant planning consent for the Chapel Place development in Ilford.

“The site has been allocated for mixed-use development in the Redbridge Local Plan, which sets out the Council’s aim to deliver over 17,250 new homes, 5,000 jobs and vital community infrastructure across the borough.

“Chapel Place allows us to deliver a mixed tenure of quality housing and commercial space in response to the needs of the area, whilst significantly improving the public realm. We believe this opportunity has all of the characteristics to enable Telford Homes to deliver a best-in-class product in Ilford and to deliver on our commitment to building sustainable communities.”

The client team includes: architect HTA, MEP Consultant Cudd Bentley, structural and civils Ramboll and Fire consultant Elementa.

The £100m Hawthorne House project is located at Farthingale Walk and replaces the former office block Jubilee House, which has now been demolished.

When completed for the for the 2026/27 academic year, Hawthorne House will have 719 beds as well as a 65,000 sq ft sixth-form academy over eight floors below the student accommodation.

Unite Students is using a ‘fabric first’ approach, which means architect AHMM’s design of the building optimises the materials being used in its construction to give better energy efficiency, such as maximising air tightness and solar gain.

Unite Students is the capital’s largest student accommodation operator and is committed to adding more beds.

The building includes a 65,000 sq ft sixth form academy – the London Academy of Excellence

Aldar said it “intends to leverage its expertise and balance sheet to support London Square’s land acquisition strategy to enable it to develop larger and prime central London sites.”Aldar added: “By exporting its expertise to the UK market through the acquisition of an established and reputable operating platform, Aldar will gain a meaningful foothold in the diverse and dynamic London property market, known for its resilience and enduring appeal to both local and international investors.”

Talal Al Dhiyebi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Aldar Properties said: “Our recently announced international expansion strategy centres on exploring opportunities to acquire or partner with established operating platforms in our target markets.

“The acquisition of London Square represents our first market entry outside of the region, and is a testament to the company’s management team, governance framework, and business model which has consistently delivered strong performance.

“The transaction, which is synergistic in nature, gives us the ability to leverage our mutual strengths, shared values, and common approach to homebuilding to scale London Square while bringing the best of Aldar to bear in the UK’s property market, as we continue to build our foothold outside of the region.”

Since its establishment in 2010, London Square has successfully created a development pipeline worth over £2bn and completed over 3,500 homes to date with a pipeline of 930 homes under construction worth £425m

Adam Lawrence, Founder and Chief Executive of London Square said: “This is an outstanding outcome for London Square. Aldar is an exemplary company with an unrivalled reputation and their strength and breadth of knowledge and experience will enable London Square to flourish and extend its presence across Greater London and the Southeast.

“Becoming part of Aldar is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the future of London Square. We look forward to playing a leading role in tackling the housing shortage by providing more much-needed homes in the capital and surrounding areas where there is a continuing lack of supply.”

The £220m Botanical House rental flats scheme will deliver nearly 450 homes – a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments at the Altyre Road site.

Botanical House will be the first residential building in Croydon to achieve the highest possible sustainability standards – including BREEAM ‘Outstanding rating, Fitwel3* certification and WiredScore Platinum.

With a retrofit first approach, the basement and ground floor slab of the original hotel building will be retained to save embodied carbon and minimise demolition and subsequent waste on site.

Construction at Botanical House will start in 2024, with the development scheduled to complete and open in 2027.

HTA Design is the architect for the tower and mansion block, which will have similar facades, while the crown of each building will have its own identity. Shelly & Counch is the M&E consultant for the project

The scheme will now go forward as a hybrid planning application next Summer with hopes that construction work will now start in 2026, a year later than originally planned.

The first phase of development will comprise over 1,000 homes, the first cultural and commercial buildings, and the park and vital east-west connections.

Much of the 40-acre site in Earls Court has been prepared for redevelopment

The developer is a joint venture between Delancey, Dutch pension fund manager APG and Transport for London, first formed to take forward the plan in December 2019.

Rob Heasman, CEO of ECDC, said: “Today marks one more step in our journey to create something truly incredible here at Earls Court.

“In 2021, we shared a new vision to bring the wonder back to Earls Court, to ensure our plans for the future create unforgettable experiences, as in the past.

“Our plans have progressed and benefitted from continued open dialogue”

60% of the site will be unbuilt, plans include a network of Exhibition Gardens, including The Table, a new urban park

“There is no other central London site like this; this is our chance to build sustainably and innovatively for the future, ensuring that Earls Court is a place to discover wonder for generations to come.”

Landsec has started the major refurbishment of Thirty High (formerly Portland House) in Victoria and the development of Timber Square in Southwark with a combined completion value of £504m.

And two consented office schemes could start next year at at Liberty of Southwark and Red Lion Court, SE1 worth £585m.

The improved outlook has also seen Landsec set provisional start dates for the first half of next year for its major mixed-used schemes in London and Manchester, with a combined development value approaching £2bn.

Landsec eyes start for Manchester Mayfield’s £400m first phase

Mark Allan, Chief Executive of Landsec, said: “Since early 2022, we have been clear that we expected interest rates to remain higher for longer and that asset values would have to adjust to this new reality, which they have.

“We were decisive in acting on this view by selling £1.4bn of single-let HQ offices, mostly in the City, at prices ahead of today’s values.

“Investment activity remains thin, but we expect this to pick up in 2024, which should start to support values for the best assets.

“We will continue to recycle capital where our ability to add further value is limited, but having been a net seller when prices were higher, we are well-placed to take advantage of opportunities that will no doubt arise as the new higher-for-longer reality is now more widely accepted.”

Allan revealed the business was preparing for work to start at its £1bn Finchley Road scheme in London and £800m Mayfield scheme in Manchester.

£1bn Finchley Road scheme to built on strip site next to existing O2 shopping centre

He said: “We continue to progress the preparation of our two most advanced projects, creating optionality for a potential start on site next year.

“At Mayfield, adjacent to Manchester’s main train station, we secured detailed planning consent for the first 330,000 sq ft of office development across two buildings in September. The expected investment for this is  £180m.

“We continue to work on enhancing our plans and expected returns, so subject to this, we could potentially start this first phase in the first half of 2024.

“At Finchley Road, in zone two London, where we secured a resolution to grant planning consent for our 1,800 homes masterplan in March, we secured vacant possession of an important part of the first phase of this site during the period.

“Subject to further planning and land assembly workstreams, we could potentially start enabling works in the first half of 2024 as well.”

Hybrid planning permission for a residential-led mixed-use scheme was secured in September 2022 for 12 blocks, up to 36 storeys, delivering around 1,500 new residential units.

The Morden Wharf development will include 186,000 sq ft of commercial floor space and 50,000 sq ft of retail, restaurant, community, and convenience spaces.

The development includes a 275-metre riverside frontage with an enhanced Thames Path, and a 3.9-acre riverside park.

Stephen Conway, Executive Chairman at Galliard Homes, said: “Galliard Homes is delighted to announce our partnership with CDL, to provide much-needed homes within Greenwich.

“CDL’s worldwide reputation as an industry leader, marked by their commitment to delivering first class development across numerous asset classes, aligns with our values. We hope this will be the first of many more future projects together.”

Its joint venture with Lendlease is the first time that Daiwa House has been involved in the development and sale of new homes in the United Kingdom.

Lendlease will develop and construct the new homes, which have an end value of £250m and retain a 25 per cent interest in the project, which will be the final stage of residential development at Elephant Park.

Both firms previously partnered on the delivery of a 41-storey mixed use building in Manhattan, and recently began work on a build-to-rent apartment development in Melbourne.

Lendlease’s European chief executive, Andrea Ruckstuhl, said: “This deal is a significant vote of confidence in the property market in the United Kingdom. We’re very pleased to be able to bring Japanese investment here and it’s another illustration of the desire that international investors have for high quality opportunities across our global pipeline of projects.”

Residents of the new buildings will be able to enjoy a communal gym, elevated garden, SkyLounge, 24-hour concierge service and cycle storage. Residents are expected to be able to move in from mid-2026.

The President and Chief Executive Officer of Daiwa House, Mr. Keiichi Yoshii, said: “I am very excited right now. This is because this is Daiwa House’s first project in the UK. We would like to thank everyone involved, including Lendlease, for giving us this opportunity.”

London development manager Avanton with partner investor Canada Israel gained planning for the 515-home tower at the regeneration of site formerly known as Wembley Point, moments from Stonebridge Park train station.

Designed by architects Patel Taylor, Stonebridge Place promises to redefine the Brent skyline.

The development consists of three distinct buildings, with the 32-storey tower, at its heart finished with a galls and terracotta facade.

A second stepped building will rise from 10 to 20 storeys, alongside a third building of three stories that will house a boxing gym and a public café.

Upon its completion in 2027, this tower will stand as the tallest building in Brent.

Gil Selzer, UK Managing Director of Canada Israel, said: “We are thrilled to continue expanding our London portfolio with the introduction of Stonebridge Place.

“Building on the incredible success of WEM Tower, this new development reaffirms our commitment to delivering a stylish residential experience for young adults in London.”