London to get new creative quarter in Greenwich as city centre rents rise

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 29, 2017

London’s Soho and Shoreditch are two of the key areas for creatives but rising rents are pricing some fashion stores and studios out of those areas.

Now a regeneration scheme down the river in Greenwich is aiming to address the problem with plans for a new “creative quarter” of affordable workshops and studios to be built next to the major O2 arena on the Greenwich peninsula.

Developers are panning a complex of 16 buildings that could accommodate up to 1,500 workers from 2020. Rents should start from £10 per sq ft for a workshop rising to an average of around £25.

Developer Knight Dragon will build on a site that is about the size of a rugby pitch with the new buildings to be set around a series of courtyards with a windowed transparent market hall at its centre.

Eight architects will design two of the buildings each to give the development a varied look.

The move comes as part of an £8.4 billion redevelopment of Greenwich Peninsula and follows studies showing that around a third of art and design studios in London are at risk of squeezing out the creatives that currently work there due to high rents.

The new studios, which could be rented for as little as a week at time will be designed to incorporate a mix of businesses needing heavy machinery as well as those that are more desk-based.

Sammy Lee, chairman of Knight Dragon, said: “Creativity is what drives forward any thriving city. The Peninsula presents a unique chance for our team in London to create a new permanent district designed by creatives for creatives.

“At the very centre of this new community will be artists mixing with start-ups mixing with independent market traders and design companies, large and small; everyone is welcome. We want a real mix of companies.”