Angel Waterside

British Waterways and Miller Developments, in a joint venture, have been working with the London Borough of Islington on the masterplan for urban renewal at City Road Basin since 2001. Proposed developments incorporate a mix of uses including residential, commercial, retail, sport and leisure.

Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects had already been involved in redevelopments at Diespeker Wharf and, with Groveworld, at Crystal Wharf. In 2002 they formed City Wharf Development Company and bought a 0.32 hectare portion of the site. This was bought unconditionally and with no planning permission.

Consulting the council and the community

City Wharf Development Company began detailed consultations in line with the masterplan. They proposed setting the new buildings back from the canal to create a public linear park in the hope that overall masterplan would follow suit. This aimed to open up a linear park along the full stretch of the west side of City Road basin.

The developers and the London Borough of Islington agreed on a provision of 25% affordable housing and requirements for commercial uses at ground floor level, pedestrian access to the towpath, recreational uses, appropriate density and building heights.

Local residents and businesses received a letter explaining the proposals and were invited to an open day within Pollard Thomas Edwards architects.

By November 2002 a detailed planning application was submitted and full planning permission was granted in April 2003.

Rethinking the design

At this point, City Wharf Development Company decided at this stage to rethink the design. Market values were increasing and they wanted to rationalise the block layouts to get better commercial value out of the mix of private apartment types.

The redesign added an extra storey to the roofline and lowered the whole building to match the surrounding roof heights. The ground floor commercial was now partially submerged at pavement level, but street-side pedestrians can still see through the top of glazed windows of the office facades to the park and water beyond.

Improving the internal layout

The increased returns from larger penthouse apartments on the upper floors meant that the developers could also rethink the internal layout. Rather than creating standard apartment block floor plans with long corridors and single aspect apartments off each side, they divided the blocks into four sections, each with a separate lift core.

The new layout meant that the lifts opened onto a hall accessing only four or five apartments on each floor. This increases privacy and sociability for residents and also allows the floor layouts of many apartments to be dual aspect, improving light and space conditions within the apartments.

Getting final planning approval

The section 106 negotiations for the design and management of the park continued throughout the redesign period. The London Borough of Islington agreed to fully adopt the park once the details for design, access and landscape specification were agreed.

City Wharf Development Company submitted a detailed planning application in November 2004 and full planning permission was granted in February 2005. Construction began in March 2005 and the scheme was completed in early 2008.