Sheppard Robson submits East End tower for planning

Sheppard Robson has submitted plans for a block of flats in Whitechapel in London’s East End.

The 24-storey tower on Cavell Street will contain 85 flats. It will be joined by a landscaped footpath to an eight-storey building containing a further 28 “affordable” flats and 3,700sq m of offices designed for start-ups and technology companies.

The site is in a mainly low-rise area but is bounded on one side by HOK’s rebuilt Royal London Hospital and on another by land earmarked for Stockwool’s Whitechapel Central, which includes a 25-storey tower.

Alan Shingler, partner at Sheppard Robson, said: “The overarching aim of the project is to provide something new to an area of London that is undergoing significant change.

“The project – which  includes high-quality and high-density homes, as well as catering for SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and TMT [tech, media and telecomms] businesses –  is a development that resonates with the ambition of the area and acts as a marker for future plans.” 

The tower will have large, recessed balconies, giving residents the opportunity to add greenery to the exterior that will contribute to its identity.

The shorter building will have an outdoor communal terrace, with brown roofs and photovoltaics.  Its upper levels will be stepped to integrate into the surrounding urban fabric while at ground level its curved corners are intended to create visible connections between the development, neighbouring buildings and public spaces, said Shingler.                           

The buildings’ metallic cladding will be textured to reference the area’s history of textile making, he added.

Vertical windows on the north and south elevations will maximise the amount of daylight into the flats, while the east and west sides will appear more solid, with horizontal windows positioned to avoid solar gain.