Proposals for a brand-new commercial building at Elephant Park in zone one of central London have been released by Lendlease
The new Elephant Park building would align perfectly with the health, wellbeing and environmental priorities being set by today’s most forward-thinking businesses.
With 485,000 square feet of office space the building, designed by ACME, responds to a much-needed requirement for new workspace and employment in the heart of Elephant & Castle itself.
Delivery of a new building that will combine office and retail space has the potential to provide work for around 4,000 people.
Over 2,300 new homes have been completed and construction of another 646 is underway.
The architectural quality and scale of the building will allow a diverse workplace to emerge within Elephant Park, one of the capital’s most exciting places to live, work or visit.
Covid-19 has acted as an accelerant to changes already taking place in the workplace, and organisations are making real estate decisions that will help them respond quicker to future change.
Easy access to green space
The construction of Elephant Park began in 2013 and Lendlease is now over halfway through the construction of thousands of new homes.
Sustainability is at the heart of all Elephant Park projects and is expected to grow in importance with an expectation in the future of net zero carbon in operation buildings. Efficient and adaptable buildings and technology will be critical to the long-term relevance and success of commercial buildings.
A range of environmental measures have been included that respond to the need to address climate change. An extensive and innovative use of cross laminated timber for the office floors will reduce its embodied carbon by half when compared to similar buildings. Lendlease also intends that the building exceed London Plan targets for carbon saving measures.
Plans are also in place to harness the positive impacts of biophilic design. The greenery of the park is proposed to continue around the building at street level.
Lendlease’s proposal to deliver a significant increase in commercial floorspace at Elephant Park is also a direct response to current planning policy to increase employment and quality workspace in Elephant & Castle.
Subject to planning approval, the building will provide around 10 per cent of Southwark’s projected requirement for new employment floorspace over the next 15 years, and it will meet a strategic need for jobs at Elephant & Castle identified in both the New Southwark Plan and the London Plan.
Providing a positive social impact
Kristy Lansdown, Lendlease project director of Elephant Park, said: “The revitalisation of Elephant & Castle has been taking place for over a decade, and it is symbolic of the area’s success and the evolution of the town centre that there is now such a clear need for new high-quality workspace.
“Our plans not only address this need but provide an architecturally exciting and sustainable building that we think will appeal to London’s most dynamic businesses; whilst also providing a positive social impact for the local community through opportunities for employment, new workspace and more footfall to local businesses.”
