黑洞社区

Plans for a 48-storey block near Canary Wharf to be built using pods manufactured offsite were approved by Tower Hamlets councillors this week. They were submitted by Tide Construction, the developer behind the world鈥檚 tallest residential modular building.

Designed by EPR Architects, the student accommodation scheme at 30 Marsh Wall will house just over 1,000 studio apartments including four amenity levels and a roof garden.

EPR鈥檚 block will be built using prefabricated pods that will be transported to Marsh Wall and stacked on top of each other. Tide used the same technique on a pair of 38 and 44-storey towers in Croydon which made headlines last year when they became the world鈥檚 tallest.

Tide is now building an even taller, 50-storey scheme on a neighbouring plot. All three Croydon towers were drawn up by HTA Design.

Tower Hamlets鈥� planning committee voted seven to one to approve the Canary Wharf block on Wednesday evening, backing a recommendation for approval given by the planning officer.

The use of off-site construction could reduce construction waste by up to 80%, according to the officer鈥檚 report, with 97% of the waste being recycled - although the scheme will require the demolition of the site鈥檚 currently vacant seven-storey block dating to the 1990s.

The report also highlighted concerns raised during the scheme鈥檚 consultation rounds, including that its facade looked 鈥渃heap and tacky鈥�, and that the design was 鈥渙ut of date鈥� and looked like a 鈥渉igh-rise slum block鈥�.

Objections also questioned the necessity of building a student accommodation block in the area despite no nearby university, and suggested that it would be more sustainable to refurbish the existing building.

Other firms working on the project include modular contractor Vision Modular, landscape architect Spacehub Design, daylight consultants Avison Young, planning consultant Rolf Judd Planning and structural engineer Barrett Mahony Consulting Engineer.