The press hall at the Daily Mail’s former printworks in Rotherhithe could be retained in British Land’s masterplan for the area.
The Harmsworth Quays Printworks, in Surrey Quays Road, was once a hive of activity, churning out editions of the Daily Mail, Evening Standard, and Metro.
The fifteen-acre site was sold to British Land in 2012 – and the developer now has two options for its future as part of its Canada Water Masterplan.
The first option is to retain the press hall and bring it back into a range of uses, but demolish the lower-level buildings.
The second is to demolish the entire Printworks site and build a mixed-use commercial and residential development in its place.
British Land is pursuing a “flexible approach” regarding the future of the site, and no decisions have yet been made.
The Canada Water Masterplan covers a 46-acre site incorporating Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, the SE16 Printworks, Surrey Quays Leisure Park, and the historic Grade II-listed dock manager’s office and 1–14 Dock Offices.
There is expected to be about two million sq ft of office and workspace, up to 3,500 new homes, and about one million sq ft of retail, leisure, entertainment and community space set in a network of streets and spaces connected to the wider area.
Revised plans, which went on show to the public in May, include buildings of varying heights, from a number of ‘landmark buildings’ towering up to 50 storeys in height, to ‘low’ buildings of up to five storeys.
The completed scheme is expected to provide up to 20,000 jobs, and about 1,800 full-time equivalent roles in construction would be generated over the development period.
The development would be built in several phases over the course of about fifteen to 20 years.
The plans are expected to be submitted to the council by the end of 2017 and building work would start in early 2019 if approved.