Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council granted permission for the AJ100 practice’s masterplan at a meeting on 18 November. Councillors voted in favour of the plans for the 5.2ha Wheat Quarter masterplan, which sits north of the wider brownfield site.
BGY’s scheme features 578 residential units across multiple tenures, including 304 build-to-rent flats, an 180-key aparthotel, 141 extra care housing units and 133 townhouses. The client backing the project is Malaysian developer IJM.
The application site includes a Grade II-listed 1920s grain silo complex designed by Louis de Soissons – the architect of Welwyn Garden City – that BGY says will be ‘sensitively refurbished to house a competitive socialising experience, bar and restaurant’ recognising the former Shredded Wheat factory, which stopped operating in 2008 and once employed almost 400 people.
According to the planning officers’ report, the retained buildings are the Grade II-listed production hall, grain and boiler houses and a section of the silos. The rest of the site is virtually clear.
Once complete, the restored 1920s silos will contain the aparthotel and sky bar, co-working space, and a rock-climbing facility.
A first phase of 208 mixed-tenure homes on the southern portion of the site was designed by Collado Collins Architects and delivered by Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing in partnership with Higgins Partnerships, completed in 2023.
The entire former factory site had outline masterplan consent granted in 2018 for up to 1,500 homes under a ZM Land & Capital-led development vehicle. Following the collapse of that developer into receivership, IJM Land acquired the northern portion of the site in late 2023 and brought forward a revised masterplan with BGY.
In 2014, EPR bagged the job of designing homes for the former Shredded Wheat factory site following a competition. However this masterplan was not carried through.
Lucas Lou, BGY’s associate director, said of the planning milestone: ‘The Wheat Quarter presents an extraordinary opportunity to create a new neighbourhood that honours Welwyn Garden City’s pioneering vision whilst meeting contemporary housing needs. Our heritage-led approach ensures the iconic silos remain at the heart of this new community, celebrating the site’s industrial legacy whilst creating beautiful, sustainable homes for the future.’
Delivery of the BGY application is due in phases, with townhouses expected to completed in 2028.