Elephant & Castle Masterplan

Location: Elephant & Castle, London

Client: The Oceancrest Partnership

Sector: Master Plans

Status: £1.5 billion

The Oceancrest Partnership (a consortium of Blackfriars Investments, Le Frak Organisation, Chelsfield Partners and Glebe Holdings) appointed Marks Barfield as part of a multi-disciplinary team to support masterplan and design buildings for their bid for the £1.5 billion redevelopment of the Elephant & Castle, one of London's worst eyesores dating from the 1960s.

The proposals included plans to build 5,500 homes that will be rented out on a not-for-profit basis. Backing the developers was Royal London Asset Management and Bank of Scotland. The most radical element of the consortium's proposals was the residential development. Rent on the houses was set to cover only the cost of their construction plus interest payments on the debt. This meant that they would be around 25 per cent below the market rate for rented property in London.

The proposals, which also included around 800,000sq ft of shops and leisure facilities, was themed as London's fashion quarter, with a focus on businesses offering clothing, hairdressing, make-up and jewellery, and aimed to establish a new town centre and balanced community.