Weekly News
Plans revealed for Queen Elizabeth Park expansion
Ambitious plans for a new cultural quarter on Stratford Waterfront in east London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park are set to gain planning approval.
The project, which is being led by architects Allies and Morrison (A&M), will include new buildings for the Sadler’s Wells dance theatre, the BBC, the Victoria and Albert Museum (known as V&A East) and the University of London’s College of Fashion.
It will also add a significant number of new homes, retail space, a high-quality public realm and additional cultural/community spaces.
The new buildings will occupy a prominent position on the Olympic Park’s eastern edge, approachable and connected through a sequence of clearly legible public spaces.
V&A East, a new gallery co-curated by the London-based museum with the Smithsonian Institution, will sit at the intersection of new routes at the centre of the site. Arranged to its south are the London College of Fashion, the new home for BBC Music, and Sadler’s Wells East, facing the London Aquatics Centre.
According to A&M, there will be a distinct identity for each of the institutions and the master plan maximises the potential of close adjacencies in a way that is natural and dynamic to explore the opportunities for permeability and interaction.
Sadler’s Wells will have a recognisable saw-tooth roofline and is a robust building of natural coloured brick and cast clay tiles, and metal windows. The BBC building consists of a weathered steel volume containing the studio for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
The largest building will be the London College of Fashion. Conceived as a 21st century hub for making, it will have a perimeter of day-lit and naturally ventilated workshops which wrap around a dramatic internal courtyard crossed by stairs linking spaces for exchange.
Its neighbour, V&A East will contain two galleries, for permanent display and temporary exhibitions within a distinctive angular form.
