The plans for the triangular plot in Fleet Street Hill, next to Brick Lane, are backed by Blue Coast Capital, the investment fund that took over the site and its sister plot, the nearby Huntingdon Estate, from developer Londonewcastle.

Blue Coast Capital commissioned Morris+Company to come up with all-new proposals for both sites: a nine-storey office-led development for the 0.28ha Huntingdon Estate, which was approved in 2021; and this residential-led development on the Fleet Street Hill site, which includes purpose-built shared-living accommodation.

Londonewcastle won the go-ahead for its linked pair of housing schemes in 2015  after the planning inspectorate overruled Tower Hamlets Council and approved the contentious split-site proposal.

Previously, Robin Partington & Partners had planned to build a 14-storey scheme on the Huntingdon Estate, while Peter Barber had put forward a 34 unit ‘doner’ affordable housing scheme for Fleet Street Hill, featuring a mix of tenures, start-up office units for 16 businesses and a community space built around a car-free public square.

Morris+Company’s newly consented 13,300m² scheme will deliver significantly more homes, namely 220 co-living studios and 25 homes for social rent.

These will be housed in two towers, one 11 storeys and the other part-11, part-12 storeys. The scheme also features a single-storey pavilion with a tall beacon structure, at the western, ‘pointed’ end of the site, which will offer a café and community space.

According to the practice, the scheme will transform the ‘prominent, derelict brownfield site’ into a ‘vibrant, sustainable, residential-led development’. It added: ‘The architectural and urban design approach takes its inspiration from the rich character of Spitalfields and Banglatown, ensuring that the scheme is contextually responsive and enhances the identity of the area.’

It said the three buildings ‘create a cohesive backdrop to Allen Gardens, with views between them forming a dynamic and balanced composition of distinct architectural identities’ and ‘the tallest co-living and residential blocks appearing as elegant, slender profiles, clearly related but with unique characters’.

A future timeframe has yet to be set out.

Fleet Street Hill – site

Project team

Client Blue Post Capital (BCCAP)
Coliving operating partner VervLife
Planning DP9
Architect and lead consultant Morris+Company
Landscape architect Spacehub
Structural and civil engineer Heyne Tillett Steel
MEP, acoustics and sustainability engineer Max Fordham
Fire engineer Jensen Hughes
Quantity surveyor Core 5
Waste consultant WSP
Daylight and sunlight GIA Surveyors
Transport engineer Motion
Heritage and townscape Tavernor Consultancy
Engagement and PR Kanda Consulting
Security Grendon Design Agency
Viability and affordable housing DS2
Principal designer Morris+Company

Fleet Street Hill – model