A major redevelopment is planned for the Elephant and Castle area of south London, including a cultural and community space, a new elevated and publicly accessible park and the reinstatement of a lost street.
Southwark Council is supporting plans to knock down the Skipton House office block, between Elephant and Castle Tube Station and London South Bank University, to create a new public realm to help boost regeneration.
Elephant and Castle has so far not received the type of gentrification that has swept through many other areas of south London, most notably Brixton.
Plans for new open space in Elephant and Castle
The emerging plans for the London Road site include delivering around 450 new homes, doubling the existing amount of office space to over 500,000sqft and will provide improvements to local cycling routes.
Cllr Mark Williams, Southwark’s cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, said: ‘This is an exciting new project that will complement and enhance our own vision for the new Elephant and Castle town centre and bring another world class development to the heart of Southwark, creating a wide range of benefits for our community.
‘The proposals for Skipton House will transform the gateway into the London South Bank University, create new offices for local businesses, improve open and green spaces around the site and provide even more cultural amenities to the area to put Elephant and Castle firmly on the map.’
Geoffrey Springer, head of development at London and Regional Properties, said the development by his firm would deliver ‘new open space and a vastly improved public realm, strengthening the ongoing regeneration of Elephant and Castle’.
The company declined to comment on how many of the new homes would be social or affordable housing and told Transport Network that it was still in discussions with the council over the issue.
An exhibition of the plans will be take place over three days at London South Bank University’s Keyworth Centre, Keyworth Street, on Thursday 8 October and Friday 9 October and Saturday 10th October, as part of a public consultation.
