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UK: Packaged Living and Buccleuch Property have received the green light for a six-storey 156-unit coliving scheme on the site of the Poundstretcher store in Woolwich, south-east London.
Greenwich Council’s planning board approved the scheme, which councillors were told would improve the look of Beresford Square, at its meeting last week.
The Beresford Square scheme will include a coworking space, gym and roof terrace as well as a community kitchen.
Sophie Gunn, associate director of development at Packaged Living said that because the scheme is lower than 18 metres, it did not need approval from the Building Safety Regulator, and work could start this year.
“The existing building is of really poor quality with long, blank frontages at the ground floor,” she said. “Our proposals will look to completely transform this with a fully vibrant and active frontage at ground floor. We would like a restaurant that actually opens up onto Beresford Square and really animates the square during the evening and supports Woolwich’s night-time economy. Residents will their own kitchen and bathroom but they will have access to a whole host of amenities in the building, things like a gym, a wellness studio, co-working space, but also social resident lounge and kitchen space at the top of the building. So residents are renting the whole building, and not just their studio. Coliving offers a sustainable, affordable and long term option, and it’s also meeting a growing demand for those that are living in really poor quality rental accommodation at the moment.”
The proposal was backed unanimously. Other coliving developments have recently been approved at nearby Macbean Street as well as on the former Thames Polytechnic Island Site near the town hall, which received formal sign-off just before Christmas.
Highlights:
- Packaged Living and Buccleuch Property have received the green light for a six-storey 156-unit coliving scheme on the site of the Poundstretcher store in Woolwich, south-east London
- The Beresford Square scheme will include a coworking space, gym and roof terrace as well as a community kitchen
- The proposal was backed unanimously. Other coliving developments have recently been approved at nearby Macbean Street as well as on the former Thames Polytechnic Island Site near the town hall, which received formal sign-off just before Christmas
