Four architects to vie for Wapping masterplan

Berkeley Homes boss Tony Pidgley plans to hold an invited architectural competition to design the transformation of the firm’s newly acquired site in Wapping, east London.

In an exclusive interview with Building, Pidgley said: “A number of the good architects will be invited to put forward proposals – the area does deserve first-class architecture.

“There will be a competition run in partnership with the local authority [Tower Hamlets].”

Media group News International sold its former Wapping headquarters site to Berkeley Homes division St George for a sum “in the region of £150m” last week.

The developer said it planned to use the 15-acre “Wapping Village” site, which has been vacant for the past two years, for a mixed-use residential-led development with homes, offices, shops and public open spaces.

Although the site does not have a River Thames frontage, Pidgley said a canal running through the area would form part of the plans to “add ambience” as well as making the most of
the site’s listed buildings.

He added that he expects to approach four architectural practices to take part in the competition.

A number of the good architects will be invited to put forward proposals

Tony Pidgley, Berkeley

“The site is in zone one and we think the regeneration of this site will complete the area,” he said.

Architects praised the housebuilder’s latest move, pointing to it as further evidence of its design-led ethos.

Grid Architects director Craig Casci, who has worked with Berkeley Homes for 17 years, called it an “enlightened client”.

“They understand planning and believe in approaching planning properly,” he said.

Fellow architect and co-founder of DSDHA, Deborah Saunt, who is currently working on two Berkeley Homes projects, agreed. “They have high design ideals and high ambitions,” she said.

News International chief executive Tom Mockridge said the sale marked the end of an era for the company, but that its move to nearby Thomas More Square in 2010 had been as important as its move away from Fleet Street in the eighties.

The company’s decision to sell the site was the result of a strategic property review undertaken last summer, which concluded that it was no longer a necessary part of the company’s asset base.