The Birmingham and London-based practice’s Orchard Wharf scheme also includes 208 affordable homes. It was unanimously approved last Thursday (4 September).

The scheme for developer Regal on a 1.38ha Thamesside site features five buildings for student bedrooms and two buildings for affordable residential units. According to planning documents, it meets the London Plan target of 35 per cent affordable across both tenures.

A connecting podium structure holding 536m2 of commercial space will front a new public square, Orchard Place, connected to new pedestrian links on the Thames.

The proposals include more than 7,400m2 of open space, including landscaped gardens, children’s play areas and an elevated riverside garden, which Howells says is designed to integrate with the surrounding neighbourhood, ensuring the site contributes positively to the wider Leamouth area.

Orchard Wharf includes a new logistics hub for Thames Clippers in the form of a wharf logistics facility for waterborne freight handling.

Howells’ approved Orchard Whaf

Recommending the scheme for approval, Tower Hamlets planning officers said that reactivating the long-vacant site would deliver ‘a substantial public benefit’ in terms of housing needs.

Two warehouses and a single-storey building not used since 1993 will be flattened to make way for the scheme, which forms part of the wider development of the Leamouth Peninsula.

This also includes Howells’ City Island development, a major residential scheme completed in 2020 alongside a new home for English National Ballet. SOM previously masterplanned the site for developer Ballymore

Speaking about the approval of Orchard Wharf, Regal London planning director Steve Harrington said: ‘This is an important step towards delivering new affordable homes and high-quality student accommodation in Tower Hamlets, while ensuring the long-term future of the wharf as a sustainable logistics hub.

‘Orchard Wharf exemplifies our commitment to creating places that balance housing need, economic opportunity and community benefit.’

Howells partner William Poole said: ‘We are delighted to have secured this hugely significant consent on behalf of Regal. The committee’s decision marks a step change in London’s evolution towards more climate-resilient infrastructure solutions.’

Construction at Orchard Wharf is expected to start in 2026.