Royal Mint Gardens Block A receives planning approval

Words by BSBG Media Team, Friday 24 January 2025

Brewer Smith Brewer Group (BSBG) is pleased to announce that the Royal Mint Gardens Block A has received formal planning approval from Tower Hamlets Council as the Local Planning Authority. BSBG was engaged as the Lead Design Consultant and Executive Architect to redesign and reconfigure elements of an existing planning scheme with a focus on improving functionality, access, escape routes, internal space planning and greater buildability.

A Section 73 planning application for the scheme was subsequently submitted by BSBG, containing a number of significant amendments from the original consented design. These were most notably targeted at enhancing both internal efficiencies and operational activity between residential and hotel uses, and creating a viable proposal for construction. The client is IJM Land.

The project is a mixed-use scheme which, under the new approved design, features 450 aparthotel units and 79 private residential units. In its previous guise the building was comprised of 269 hotel/aparthotel units with 79 residences. The site, located adjacent to DLR and Network Rail infrastructure, extends 15 metres over the DLR tracks - a feature that required rigorous approvals from both Transport for London (TfL) and Network Rail. Positioned near iconic landmarks such as the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, within the Tower Conservation Area, the scheme also required consent from Historic Royal Palaces. The project is the second and final phase of the two-phased Royal Mint Street masterplan development featuring a mix of residential and hospitality units contained within four buildings. Phase 1 includes 266 residential units across three blocks (Blocks B, C and D), and was completed in 2020.

Commenting on the planning approval, BSBG Head of Studio London, Shaham Ahmed, said: “We’re delighted to have now received formal planning approval for the Royal Mint Gardens Block A. This is a significant milestone in the project, and a tremendous accomplishment for the London studio in securing this planning permission and adding extensive value to a project site that is one of the most challenging in London due to constraints, restrictions, permissions, and the adjacency to the railway infrastructure. It has been a journey, and we have embraced and overcome all the challenges the site has offered up. We now look forward to construction commencing and seeing the project come to fruition.”

BSBG Managing Partner, Alistair McMillan, added: “This is a great milestone and achievement for the London studio. We have harnessed our technical expertise, innovative approach, and extensive experience on this project to find solutions that have unlocked the potential of a site in a way that is unique. I’m proud of the efforts of the project team, and we are looking forward to construction getting underway in due course.”

BSBG Media Team

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