Full planning permission has been granted to convert the disused gasworks at Bromley-by-Bow into 2,150 homes.
The former Victorian gasworks, which closed in 1976, comprise the UK's largest collection of Grade II-listed gasholders (seven in all), occupying a 23-acre brownfield site in east London.
Berkeley Group company St William, which specialises in converting gasholders, has now completed a Section 106 legal agreement (that's the bit where developers must show what they're doing for the local community) with the London Borough of Newham.
The masterplan, designed by RSHP in collaboration with Gillespies, will see the construction of 13 residential buildings, a number of which will be inside the skeletons of the gasholders themselves. There will also be 30,000 square feet of new commercial space, and a 4.2-acre riverside park along the River Lea. A "biodiverse planting programme" has been promised.
Originally, eight gasholders stood on the site, although as you can see from the image above, one was destroyed during Second World War bombing, leaving a circular 60m pool. The plans envisage this turned into a public pond.
Says Graham Stirk, Senior Director at RSHP "[I'm] delighted to be involved in this challenging project that seeks to protect the heroic group of Victorian gasholders on a site that has been inaccessible to the public for over 150 years."
(It hasn't been entirely inaccessible; St William have organised a number of public site tours in recent years.)
Adds Andy Bryce, Associate Partner at RSHP: "The experience of being close to these majestic structures, inaccessible for so long and which sit centre-stage within this unique mixed-use development, will now be available to all — and the proposal will create a lasting and meaningful legacy for Londoners that extends far beyond the site."
In 2018, a collection of King's Cross gasholders were turned into apartments, alongside Gasholder Park.
Work is expected to begin on the Bromley-by-Bow sites later in 2025.
