Benoy takes Elephant & Castle development job

Architectural and design group Benoy is one of seven partners appointed by Southwark Land Regeneration to start work on the £1bn redevelopment of London’s Elephant & Castle.

In the long term, the project is likely to see a flurry of work for design consultancies working either on the main development project or for commercial clients in the redeveloped area.

Benoy will be responsible for 102 000m2 of retail and leisure space, while KP Architects, HTA Architects, Foster and Partners, TR Hamzah and Yeang, Derek Lovejoy Partnership and Battle McCarthy Engineers will each work on other areas, including housing, transport and landscaping of the site, which covers 81ha.

Benoy associate Brian Pattenden says the full content of the redevelopment is currently unknown, as the masterplan will be worked on for the next 12 months. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

“The retail quarter will be integrated with the mixed development for the core area and will augment the community infrastructure of the area as a whole,” explains Pattenden.

“The proposal includes a rooftop park over the 6ha retail quarter, which will act as the interface between living and working spaces in the area, with access from below and above the ground,” adds Pattenden.

A statement from the seven-strong design partnership says: “We have created a scheme that will re-establish this missing quarter of London as a major destination.

“It’s a design-led workable solution for the site (and beyond) with practical high quality architecture, spaces and landscaping on the London model of ‘green lanes and squares’. The result is a world class environment,” the statement adds.