London to get the UK’s first floating village
Plans to build Britain's first floating village at London's Royal Docks has moved a step closer after the Mayor of London Johnson, revealed that Carillion Igloo Genesis had won the competition to design and build it.
The Mayor unveiled ambitious plans in February 2013 to create a floating village as part of his ongoing drive to transform London's Royal Docks bringing jobs, commercial space and homes back to the capital's waterways.
Following a competition, Carillion Igloo Genesis has been selected to transform the 15 acres of water at the Royal Victoria Dock site, sitting directly to the east of the Emirates Airline, transforming it into a thriving community with floating homes, restaurants, cafes and bars.
Although a first for the UK, floating developments are already a popular idea on the continent with successful schemes at Ijburg near Amsterdam and Hafen City in Hamburg as well as many others examples of floating homes throughout Scandinavia.
The winning consortium's scheme includes a custom build approach for each of the 50 residential homes, enabling prospective occupiers to be part of the design process of their homes, and a blue water square, framed by a market square and a floating corniche.
There will also be a large multi-purpose events space and a mix of non-residential uses including restaurants, cafes, shops and leisure and office space. Plans for additional facilities, such as a floating Lido and an ice rink, were also proposed as part of the bid.
The scheme takes inspiration from the tried and tested floating homes at Ijberg and have been assisted by Dutch floating structures experts Mark van Ommen of Floatbase and Ton van Namen of Monteflore who have already delivered exemplar schemes of over 300 floating structures.
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, inherited almost 700 hectares of land as a result of the Localism Act and is currently one of the largest owners of public land in London. He is determined to bring more public land forward for development and accelerate the number of homes being built for Londoners.
Working with the London Borough of Newham, this includes the regeneration of the former Royal Docks area, with recent investments in this area including the opening of the Emirates cable car and the Siemens Crystal Centre, as well as forthcoming developments on GLA owned land at Silvertown Quays and Royal Albert Docks which combined would result in over eight million square feet Gross External Area of new commercial space.
‘This site has the potential to become one of the most sought after addresses in the capital while breathing new life back into London's waterways. Carillion Igloo Genesis' scheme will create a unique mixed use development providing a range of commercial activities within a high quality water environment for Londoners and visitors, creating jobs and raising the profile of London's Royal Docks,’ said Johnson.
Chris Brown, director of Carillion Igloo Genesis said that living in a floating home you've helped to design is a dream for many. ‘By…