Elephant Park, Southwark, London – Lendlease

Over halfway through its timeline, with an estimated completion date of 2026, so far Elephant Park has delivered 1,784 new homes, an energy centre supplying net-zero-carbon heat and hot water to the residents and businesses, with additional capacity for a further 1,000 properties outside the development’s boundary, 32 new retail units for cafes, shops, restaurants and fitness operators, and a brand new 2-acre park at the heart of the masterplan.

Where is the project located?
Elephant Rd, London SE17 1UB
 
Who is the developer/client of the project?
Lendlease

Elephant Park is a mixed-use development by Lendlease and Southwark Council, just a short walk from Elephant & Castle’s train stations. It is built on the site of the former Heygate Estate and is designed to open up the area, creating new, accessible, throughways for pedestrians and cyclists, over 3,000 new homes and over 50 new retail spaces, including affordable retail provision.The project is over halfway through its timeline, with an estimated completion date of 2026. So far Lendlease have delivered 1,784 new homes, an energy centre supplying net-zero-carbon heat and hot water to the residents and businesses of Elephant Park, with additional capacity for a further 1,000 properties outside the development’s boundary, 32 new retail units for cafes, shops, restaurants and fitness operators, and a brand new 2-acre park at the heart of the masterplan, including the popular rocky, watery landscape, Elephant Springs. We have also delivered a new council-run library and heritage centre and an early years nursery.

Still to come are further new homes across three new plots, a pavilion building for the park which will include a publicly accessible roof terrace amongst the treetops and a bookable community space, further retail spaces, more pocket parks, and (subject to planning) a new office building for the area, designed with sustainability at its heart. This building will have a capacity for c.4,000 employees and bring a boost to the local economy. There is also an aspiration for the office building to accommodate an NHS community health hub.
 

How are you seeking to foster community, welcome visitors and attract tenants. How are you responding to changing demographics, behaviours, market context, policy, transport habits and the climate crisis since winning planning?

• In response to community feedback, not only have we devoted 50% of the masterplan to public spaces, we’ve also delivered meanwhile uses that are able respond to current market behaviours. Our latest two, the Living Room @ Sayer Street and the Deacon Street wildflower meadow, provide activation to a space that would otherwise be hoarded off as a construction plot and are designed to welcome visitors from across the surrounding area.• Our tenant strategy is designed to both serve and reflect the area’s diverse local community. The majority of Elephant Park’s businesses are local, independents taking advantage of affordable rents. We provide further bespoke support, from business mentoring to a dedicated retail liaison manager, to help them thrive. Of the 11 businesses taking advantage of affordable rents, nine are run by black or minority ethnic owners, which ensures our streets reflect the local community.

• Our outline planning permission required us to deliver 1,000sqm of D1 community uses but we have prioritised this to the extent we are on track to deliver over 1,500sqm. This includes a children’s nursery, a council-run library and a park pavilion.

• One significant change since gaining planning in 2013 is that policy now requires the delivery of more employment floorspace in the area. We have therefore submitted a new detailed planning application for a c. 485,000 commercial development that will provide more jobs and investment and, in particular, a significant increase in daytime footfall to support the area’s burgeoning independent retail sector.
 
What is your sustainability strategy and how are you mitigating carbon use and construction pollution? Please provide any evidence or data. 

Lendlease’s ambition for Elephant Park has always been to set new standards in sustainable, urban development, and committed to the project being net-zero-carbon in operation, back when the outline planning consent was secured in 2013. 

We’ve run several successful initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, from trialling electric plant, tools, and equipment to replacing diesel with hydro-treated vegetable oil. As a result we’ve been able to implement a business-wide alternative fuels policy, which should cut carbon emissions from our UK business by 1,000 tonnes a year, with Elephant Park playing a key role in that.

90% of our carbon emissions come from the materials we put into our buildings and at Elephant Park we are reducing this figure by using lower carbon steels, increasing cement alternatives and using cross-laminated-timber (CLT) as much as possible. The new pavilion in the park is built almost entirely from timber and CLT will also be used for the floor slabs of the proposed new office building, reducing its embodied carbon by half when compared to similar buildings. A residential tower under construction has achieved a carbon saving that’s equivalent to driving nearly 2 million miles. All thanks to its choice of façade, which will feature aluminium derived from 75% recycled content.

Green infrastructure plays an important role in helping to mitigate the climate emergency and for its positive contribution to biodiversity. 128 mature plane trees were retained from the original Heygate Estate, with a further 1,300 being planted in and around Elephant Park.
 
Describe the social impact of the project: How is this place contributing to the economic, environmental and social wellbeing of its citizens? Please provide any evidence or data. 

From an environmental perspective: Elephant Park will be net zero carbon in operation when complete. The project has retained 128 mature trees from the previous Heygate Estate and have planted a further 1,300 new trees in and around Elephant Park. Over half of the masterplan is devoted to new public realm, comprising over 11 acres of new and improved public spaces including a new park, new playgrounds and pocket parks as well as new retail streets and civic squares. This provides a measurable increase in biodiverse habitats.From an economic perspective: the retail strategy provides flexibility for smaller operators to get a foot on the ladder and grown their business. 11 out of the completed retail units so far have gone to local businesses on affordable rents and four of these we incubated at Elephant Park’s meanwhile use project, Artworks Elephant. Footfall figures sourced from data consultancy CACI Ltd show that the development’s retailers, particularly food & beverage, are attracting customers from across London, making Elephant Park one of London’s most exciting new foodie hubs.

From a positive social impact perspective, we are committed to creating sustainable employment opportunities for the community. Over 1,500 Southwark residents have gained employment at Elephant Park to date, with over half of those from previously unemployed backgrounds, and training has been delivered to over 9,500 people through the Southwark Construction Skills Centre, located on the project.