Atkins has secured a deal to turn a £26 billion project into one of the most environmentally sustainable urban developments in the UK.

The Old Oak and Park Royal (OOPR) scheme is planned to create over 25,500 new homes and generate 65,000 jobs.

As one of the biggest projects of its kind in Europe, the development is five times the size of the King's Cross redevelopment programme.

Working alongside the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and cost consultant Faithful+Gould, Atkins will develop a set of sustainability targets which will be utilised on all future development across the capital.

The targets will be based around six core themes:

• Urban form and public space – considers densities and form of properties, public realm, use of the canal, air quality and future climate impacts such as temperature, wind and storms

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• Transport – Considers rail and bus systems, movement within the development area, demand, roads, mode share and interaction with watercourses and green space

• Energy – considers district heating / cooling, demand reduction, renewables, energy from waste (rubbish, sewerage)

• Waste and materials – considers waste reduction / recycling, designed to enable disassembly and upgrade to extend life of building, energy efficiency of buildings.

• Water – considers water management system (supply, collection, treatment, reuse), rainwater harvesting and flood risk management

• Green / blue infrastructure – Considers access to nature, water courses, food production, green spaces, green roofs and walls

The Grand Union Canal will play a key role in the development, such as providing a method of harvesting water for use in toilets, irrigation and cleaning, becoming a feature for green spaces and other community leisure activities, as well as possibly being used as a 'giant refrigerator' to cool buildings in the summer.

Sean Lockie, sustainability director, Faithful+Gould, said: "Old Oak and Park Royal is a massive opportunity for London to do things that haven't been done before. It means creating a vision which sets out clear goals, such as being healthy to live in, flexible over time, affordable, comfortable, and being energy and resource efficient, and then taking a systematic approach to delivery. We'll need to come up with some new business models to achieve this but in doing so we have a great opportunity to make a real difference to people's lives."

(LM/MH)